Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device manufacturing method

ABSTRACT

An exposure apparatus is equipped with a fine movement stage that can hold a liquid with a projection optical system when the stage is at a position facing an outgoing surface of the projection optical system, and a blade that comes into proximity within a predetermined distance of the fine movement stage when the fine movement stage is holding the liquid with the projection optical system, and moves along with the fine movement stage while maintaining the proximity state, and then holds the liquid with the projection optical system after the movement. Accordingly, a plurality of stages will not have to be placed right under the projection optical system interchangeably, which can suppress an increase in footprint of the exposure apparatus.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a Continuation of application Ser. No. 15/268,112, filed Sep.16, 2016, which is a Division of application Ser. No. 14/273,887 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,535,339), filed May 9, 2014, which is a Division ofapplication Ser. No. 12/640,299 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,760,629) filed Dec.17, 2009, which claims the benefit of Provisional Application No.61/139,092 filed Dec. 19, 2008, and Provisional Application No.61/213,374 filed Jun. 2, 2009, the disclosures of which are herebyincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to exposure apparatuses, exposure methods,and device manufacturing methods, and more particularly to an exposureapparatus and an exposure method which are used in a lithography processto produce electronic devices such as a semiconductor device and thelike, and a device manufacturing method which uses the exposureapparatus or the exposure method.

Description of the Background Art

Conventionally, in a lithography process for manufacturing electrondevices (microdevices) such as semiconductor devices (such as integratedcircuits) and liquid crystal display devices, exposure apparatuses suchas a projection exposure apparatus by a step-and-repeat method (aso-called stepper) and a projection exposure apparatus by astep-and-scan method (a so-called scanning stepper (which is also calleda scanner) are mainly used.

Substrates such as a wafer, a glass plate or the like subject toexposure which are used in these types of exposure apparatuses aregradually (for example, in the case of a wafer, in every ten years)becoming larger. Although a 300-mm wafer which has a diameter of 300 mmis currently the mainstream, the coming of age of a 450 mm wafer whichhas a diameter of 450 mm looms near. When the transition to 450 mmwafers occurs, the number of dies (chips) output from a single waferbecomes double or more the number of chips from the current 300 mmwafer, which contributes to reducing the cost. In addition, it isexpected that through efficient use of energy, water, and otherresources, cost of all resource use will be reduced.

Semiconductor devices are gradually becoming finer, therefore, highresolution is required in exposure apparatuses. As means for improvingthe resolution, shortening a wavelength of an exposure light, as well asincreasing (a higher NA) a numerical aperture of a projection opticalsystem can be considered. To increase the substantial numerical apertureof the projection optical system as much as possible, various proposalsare made of a liquid immersion exposure apparatus that exposes a wafervia a projection optical system and liquid (refer to, e.g., U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2005/0259234, and U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2008/0088843).

However, in the local liquid immersion type exposure apparatusesdisclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0259234, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2008/0088843 and the like, in thecase of constantly maintaining a liquid immersion space formed under theprojection optical system so as to maximize throughput, a plurality ofstages (for example, two wafer stages, or a wafer stage and ameasurement stage) has to be placed right under the projection opticalsystem interchangeably.

However, when the size of the wafer becomes 450 mm, the wafer stageholding the wafer also becomes large. Therefore, in the case of placinga plurality of stages right under the projection optical systeminterchangeably for the purpose of constantly maintaining the liquidimmersion space, the size of the footprint could increase considerably.

Accordingly, appearance of a new system is expected that can deal withthe 450 mm wafer, while suppressing the footprint which will becomelarger when trying to achieve constantly maintaining the liquidimmersion space as much as possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provideda first exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beamvia a liquid, the apparatus comprising: a first movable body which ismovable at least along a two-dimensional plane; an optical member whichhas an outgoing plane that emits the energy beam; a holding member whichis movably supported by the first movable body and is movable at leastwithin a plane parallel to the two-dimensional plane facing the outgoingplane, and also can hold the liquid with the optical member when locatedat a position facing the outgoing plane; a position measurement systemwhich has an arm member, extending in a first axis direction parallel tothe two-dimensional plane, where at least a part of a head is providedthat irradiates at least one measurement beam on a measurement planeplaced on a surface substantially parallel to the two-dimensional planeof the holding member, measures positional information of the holdingmember within the two-dimensional plane, based on an output of the head;and a movable member which becomes proximal to the holding member withina predetermined distance in the first axis direction parallel to thetwo-dimensional plane when the holding member holds a liquid with theoptical member, and moves from one side of the first-axis direction tothe other side along the arm member with the holding member whilemaintaining the proximal state, and holds the liquid with the opticalmember after the movement.

According to the apparatus, the movable member moves close to theholding member within a predetermined distance in the first axisdirection when the holding member holds the liquid with the opticalmember, and moves from one side to the other side in the first axisdirection along the arm member along with the holding member whilemaintaining the proximal state, and then holds the liquid with theoptical member after the movement. Therefore, it becomes possible todeliver the liquid (a liquid immersion space formed by the liquid) heldwith the optical member from the holding member to the movable member.Accordingly, a plurality of movable bodies will not have to be placedright under the optical member interchangeably, which makes it possibleto suppress an increase in footprint of the apparatus.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provideda device manufacturing method, the method including: exposing an objectusing the first exposure apparatus of the present invention; anddeveloping the object which has been exposed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provideda second exposure apparatus that exposes an object with an energy beamvia an optical member and a liquid, the apparatus comprising: a firstmovable body which is movable at least along a two-dimensional plane; aholding member which is movably supported by the first movable bodywhile holding the object, and can hold the liquid with the opticalmember; a position measurement system which has at least a part of thesystem provided in a measurement member placed below the holding membersupported by the first movable body, and measures positional informationof the holding member by irradiating a measurement beam on a measurementplane of the holding member; and a movable member which has a holdingplane placed above the measurement member, and is exchanged with theholding member while maintaining the liquid right under the opticalmember so as to hold the liquid between the holding plane and theoptical member.

According to the apparatus, the holding member is movably supported bythe first movable body, and a measurement beam is irradiated on ameasurement plane of the holding member by the position measurementsystem which has at least a part of the system provided in themeasurement member placed below the holding member so as to measure thepositional information. When the holding member holds the liquid withthe optical member, the movable member is placed right under the opticalmember by being exchanged with the holding member, and holds the liquidwith the optical member by the holding plane. Accordingly, a pluralityof movable bodies will not have to be placed right under the opticalmember interchangeably, which makes it possible to suppress an increasein footprint of the apparatus.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is providedan exposure method in which an object is exposed with an energy beam viaan optical member and a liquid, the method comprising: moving a firstmovable body which movably supports a holding member that holds anobject and can also hold a liquid with the optical member, at leastalong a two-dimensional plane; measuring positional information of theholding member by irradiating a measurement beam on a measurement planeof the holding member, using a position measurement system which has atleast a part of the system provided in a measurement member placed belowthe holding member supported by the first movable body; and maintainingthe liquid right under the optical member, by placing a movable memberwhich has a holding plane placed above the measurement member and canhold the liquid with the optical member at the holding plane,interchangeably with the holding member.

According to the method, the holding member is movably supported by thefirst movable body, and a measurement beam is irradiated on ameasurement plane of the holding member by the position measurementsystem which has at least a part of the system provided in themeasurement member placed below the holding member so as to measure thepositional information. When the holding member holds the liquid withthe optical member, the moveable member is placed right under theoptical member by being exchanged with the holding member, and holds theliquid with the optical member by the holding plane, and maintains theliquid right below the optical member. Accordingly, a plurality ofmovable bodies will not have to be placed right under the optical memberinterchangeably, which makes it possible to suppress an increase infootprint of the apparatus.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provideda device manufacturing method, the method including: exposing an objectusing the exposure method of the present invention; and developing theobject which has been exposed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the accompanying drawings;

FIG. 1 is a view that schematically shows a configuration of an exposureapparatus of an embodiment;

FIG. 2A shows a side view of a wafer stage which the exposure apparatusin FIG. 1 is equipped with when viewed from a −Y direction, and FIG. 2Bis the wafer stage shown in a planar view;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram used to explain an input/output relation of amain controller equipped in the exposure apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a planar view showing a placement of an alignment system and aprojection unit PU which the exposure apparatus in FIG. 1 is equippedwith, along with a wafer stage;

FIG. 5 is a view used to explain an auxiliary stage which the exposureapparatus in FIG. 1 is equipped with;

FIG. 6 is a view used to explain a separation structure of a coarsemovement stage;

FIG. 7 is a planar view showing a placement of a magnet unit and a coilunit that structure a fine movement stage drive system;

FIG. 8A is a side view showing a placement of a magnet unit and a coilunit that structure a fine movement stage drive system when viewed fromthe −Y direction, and FIG. 8B is a side view showing a placement of amagnet unit and a coil unit that structure a fine movement stage drivesystem when viewed from the +X direction;

FIG. 9A is a view used to explain a drive principle when a fine movementstage is driven in the Y-axis direction, FIG. 9B is a view used toexplain a drive principle when a fine movement stage is driven in theZ-axis direction, and FIG. 9C is a view used to explain a driveprinciple when a fine movement stage is driven in the X-axis direction;

FIG. 10A is a view used to explain an operation when a fine movementstage is rotated around the Z-axis with respect to a coarse movementstage, FIG. 10B is a view used to explain an operation when a finemovement stage is rotated around the Y-axis with respect to a coarsemovement stage, and FIG. 10C is a view used to explain an operation whena fine movement stage is rotated around the X-axis with respect to acoarse movement stage;

FIG. 11 is a view used to explain an operation when a center section ofthe fine movement stage is deflected in the +Z direction;

FIG. 12A is a view showing auxiliary stage AST seen from the +Ydirection, FIG. 12B is a view showing auxiliary stage AST seen from the+X direction, and 12C is a view showing auxiliary stage AST seen fromthe +Z direction;

FIG. 13A is a view showing a slit provided on a slit plate, FIG. 13B isa view showing a measurement mark formed on a measurement reticle, andFIGS. 13C and 13D are views used to explain a scanning of a slit withrespect to a projection image of the measurement mark;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an aligner;

FIG. 15A shows a perspective view of a tip of a measurement arm, andFIG. 15B is a planar view when viewed from the +Z direction of an uppersurface of the tip of the measurement arm;

FIG. 16A is a view showing a rough configuration of an X head 77 x, andFIG. 16B is a view used to explain a placement of each of the X head 77x, Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb inside the measurement arm;

FIG. 17A is a view used to explain a drive method of a wafer at the timeof scanning exposure, and FIG. 17B is a view used to explain a drivingmethod of a wafer at the time of stepping;

FIG. 18A to FIG. 18D are views used to explain a parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 1);

FIG. 19 is a view used to explain a placement relation between a finemovement stage and a blade (No. 1);

FIG. 20 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable blade(No. 1);

FIG. 21 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a blade (No. 2);

FIG. 22 is a view used to explain a delivery of a liquid immersion space(liquid Lq) performed between a fine movement stage and a movable blade(No. 3);

FIG. 23A to FIG. 23F are views used to explain a parallel processingperformed using fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 (No. 2);

FIGS. 24A and 24B are views used to explain a placement relation betweena fine movement stage and a blade (No. 2);

and

FIG. 25 is a view used to explain a placement relation between a finemovement stage and a blade (No. 3).

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below, withreference to FIGS. 1 to 25.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an exposure apparatus 100 inthe embodiment. Exposure apparatus 100 is a projection exposureapparatus by the step-and-scan method, or a so-called scanner. As itwill be described later, a projection optical system PL is arranged inthe embodiment, and in the description below, a direction parallel to anoptical axis AX of projection optical system PL will be described as theZ-axis direction, a direction within a plane orthogonal to the Z-axisdirection in which a reticle and a wafer are relatively scanned will bedescribed as the Y-axis direction, a direction orthogonal to the Z-axisand the Y-axis will be described as the X-axis direction, and rotational(inclination) directions around the X-axis, the Y-axis, and the Z-axiswill be described as θx, θy, and θz directions, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, exposure apparatus 100 is equipped with an exposurestation (exposure processing section) 200 placed close to the end on the−Y side of a base board 12, a measurement station (measurementprocessing section) 300 placed close to the end on the +Y side of baseboard 12, two wafer stages WST1 and WST2, a relay stage DRST, and acontrol system and the like for these parts. Now, base board 12 issupported on the floor surface almost horizontally (parallel to the XYplane) by a vibration isolation mechanism (omitted in drawings). Baseboard 12 is made of a member having a tabular form, and the degree offlatness of the upper surface is extremely high and serves as a guidesurface when the three stages WST1, WST2, and DRST described above move.Incidentally, in FIG. 1, wafer stage WST1 is located at exposure station200, and wafer W is held on wafer stage WST1 (to be more specific, finemovement stage WFS1). Further, wafer stage WST2 is located atmeasurement station 300, and another wafer W is held on wafer stage WST2(to be more specific, fine movement stage WFS2).

Exposure station 200 comprises an illumination system 10, a reticlestage RST, a projection unit PU, a local liquid immersion device 8 andthe like.

Illumination system 10 includes a light source, an illuminanceuniformity optical system, which includes an optical integrator and thelike, and an illumination optical system that has a reticle blind andthe like (none of which are shown), as is disclosed in, for example,U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2003/0025890 and the like.Illumination system 10 illuminates a slit-shaped illumination area IARwhich is set on a reticle R with a reticle blind (also referred to as amasking system) by illumination light (exposure light) IL with asubstantially uniform illuminance. In this case, as illumination lightIL, for example, an ArF excimer laser beam (wavelength 193 nm) is used.

On reticle stage RST, reticle R on which a circuit pattern or the likeis formed on its pattern surface (the lower surface in FIG. 1) is fixed,for example, by vacuum chucking. Reticle stage RST is finely drivablewithin an XY plane, for example, by a reticle stage drive section 11(not shown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 3) that includes a linear motor orthe like, and reticle stage RST is also drivable in a scanning direction(in this case, the Y-axis direction, which is the lateral direction ofthe page surface in FIG. 1) at a predetermined scanning speed.

The positional information (including rotation information in the θ zdirection) of reticle stage RST in the XY plane is constantly detected,for example, at a resolution of around 0.25 nm by a reticle laserinterferometer (hereinafter referred to as a “reticle interferometer”)13, via a movable mirror 15 (the mirrors actually arranged are a Ymovable mirror (or a retro reflector) that has a reflection surfacewhich is orthogonal to the Y-axis direction and an X movable mirror thathas a reflection surface orthogonal to the X-axis direction) fixed onreticle stage RST. The measurement values of reticle interferometer 13are sent to a main controller 20 (not shown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 3).Incidentally, positional information of reticle stage RST can bemeasured by an encoder system as is disclosed in, for example, U.S.Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0288121 and the like.

Projection unit PU is placed below reticle stage RST in FIG. 1.Projection unit PU is supported via a flange portion FLG provided in theouter periphery of the projection unit, by a main frame (also called ametrology frame) BD supported horizontally by a support member (notshown). Projection unit PU includes a barrel 40, and projection opticalsystem PL held within barrel 40. As projection optical system PL, forexample, a dioptric system is used, consisting of a plurality of lenses(lens elements) that is disposed along optical axis AX, which isparallel to the Z-axis direction. Projection optical system PL is, forexample, a both-side telecentric dioptric system that has apredetermined projection magnification (such as one-quarter, one-fifth,or one-eighth times). Therefore, when illumination system 10 illuminatesillumination area IAR on reticle R with illumination area IL, byillumination light IL which has passed through reticle R placed so thatits pattern surface substantially coincides with a first surface (objectsurface) of projection optical system PL, a reduced image of the circuitpattern of reticle R within illumination area IAR via projection opticalsystem PL (projection unit PU) is formed on a wafer W whose surface iscoated with a resist (a sensitive agent) and is placed on a secondsurface (image plane surface) side of projection optical system PL, onan area (hereinafter also referred to as an exposure area) IA conjugatewith illumination area IAR. And by reticle stage RST and fine movementstage WFS1 (or fine movement stage WFS2) being synchronously driven,reticle R is relatively moved in the scanning direction (the Y-axisdirection) with respect to illumination area IAR (illumination light IL)while wafer W is relatively moved in the scanning direction (the Y-axisdirection) with respect to exposure area IA (illumination light IL),thus scanning exposure of a shot area (divided area) on wafer W isperformed, and the pattern of reticle R is transferred onto the shotarea. That is, in the embodiment, the pattern of reticle R is generatedon wafer W according to illumination system 10 and projection opticalsystem PL, and then by the exposure of the sensitive layer (resistlayer) on wafer W with illumination light IL, the pattern is formed onwafer W. Now, projection unit PU is held by a main frame BD, and in theembodiment, main frame BD is supported almost horizontally by aplurality of (e.g., three or four) support members which are each placedon an installation surface (floor surface) via a vibration isolationmechanism. Incidentally, the vibration isolation mechanism can be placedbetween each of the support members and mainframe BD. Further, as isdisclosed in, for example, PCT International Publication No.2006/038952, main frame BD (projection unit PU) can be supported bysuspension with respect to a main frame member or to a reticle base (notshown), placed above projection unit PU.

Local liquid immersion device 8 is provided, corresponding to the pointthat exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment performs exposure by aliquid immersion method. Local liquid immersion device 8 includes aliquid supply device 5, a liquid recovery device 6 (both of which arenot shown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 3), a nozzle unit 32 and the like. Asshown in FIG. 1, nozzle unit 32 is supported in a suspended state by amain frame BD supporting projection unit PU and the like via a supportmember (not shown) so that the periphery of the lower end portion ofbarrel 40 that holds an optical element closest to the image plane side(the wafer W side) constituting projection optical system PL, in thiscase, a lens (hereinafter also referred to as a “tip lens”) 191, isenclosed. Nozzle unit 32 is equipped with a supply opening and arecovery opening of a liquid Lq, a lower surface to which wafer W isplaced facing and at which the recovery opening is arranged, and asupply flow channel and a recovery flow channel that are connected to aliquid supply pipe 31A and a liquid recovery pipe 31B (both of which arenot shown in FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 4), respectively. One end of a supplypipe (not shown) is connected to liquid supply pipe 31A while the otherend of the supply pipe is connected to a liquid supply unit 5 (not shownin FIG. 1, refer to FIG. 3), and one end of a recovery pipe (not shown)is connected to liquid recovery pipe 31B while the other end of therecovery pipe is connected to a liquid recovery device 6 (not shown inFIG. 1, refer to FIG. 3). In the embodiment, main controller 20 controlsliquid supply device 5 (refer to FIG. 3), and supplies liquid betweentip lens 191 and wafer W via liquid supply pipe 31A and nozzle unit 32,as well as control liquid recovery device 6 (refer to FIG. 3), andrecovers liquid from between tip lens 191 and wafer W via nozzle unit 32and liquid recovery pipe 31B. During the operations, main controller 20controls liquid supply device 5 and liquid recovery device 6 so that thequantity of liquid supplied constantly equals the quantity of liquidwhich has been recovered. Accordingly, a constant quantity of liquid Lq(refer to FIG. 1) is held constantly replaced in the space between tiplens 191 and wafer W. In the embodiment, as the liquid above, pure waterthat transmits the ArF excimer laser beam (light with a wavelength of193 nm) is to be used. Incidentally, refractive index n of the waterwith respect to the ArF excimer laser beam is around 1.44, and in thepure water, the wavelength of illumination light IL is 193 nm×1/n,shorted to around 134 nm.

Besides this, in exposure station 200, a fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A is provided, including a measurement arm 71Asupported almost in a cantilevered state (supported in the vicinity ofone end) by main frame BD via a support member 72A. However, finemovement stage position measurement system 70A will be described afterdescribing the fine movement stage, which will be described later, forconvenience of the explanation.

In measurement station 300, an alignment device 99 provided in mainframe BD, and a fine movement stage position measurement system 70Bincluding a measurement arm 71B supported in a cantilevered state(supported in the vicinity of one end) by main frame BD via a supportmember 72B, are provided. Fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70B has a symmetric but a similar configuration with finemovement stage position measurement system 70A previously described.

Aligner 99, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2008/0088843 and the like, includes five alignmentsystems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄, shown in FIG. 4. To be more specific,as shown in FIG. 4, a primary alignment system AL1 is placed on astraight line (hereinafter, referred to as a reference axis) LV, whichpasses through the center of projection unit PU (optical axis AX ofprojection optical system PL, which also coincides with the center ofexposure area IA previously described in the embodiment) and is alsoparallel to the Y-axis, in a state where the detection center is locatedat a position that is spaced apart from optical axis AX at apredetermined distance on the +Y side. On one side and the other side inthe X-axis direction with primary alignment system AL1 in between,secondary alignment systems AL2 ₁ and AL2 ₂, and AL2 ₃ and AL2 ₄ whosedetection centers are substantially symmetrically placed with respect toreference axis LV are severally arranged. That is, five alignmentsystems AL1 and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ are placed so that their detectioncenters are placed along the X-axis direction. Incidentally, in FIG. 1,the five alignment systems AL1 and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ are shown as analigner 99, including the holding apparatus (sliders) which hold thesesystems. Incidentally, a concrete configuration and the like of aligner99 will be described furthermore later on.

As it can be seen from FIGS. 1, 2A and the like, wafer stage WST1 has awafer coarse movement stage WCS1, which is supported by levitation abovebase board 12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings, such as, forexample, air bearings 94 provided on its bottom surface and is driven inthe XY two-dimensional direction by a coarse movement stage drive system51A (refer to FIG. 3), and a wafer fine movement stage WFS1, which issupported in a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS1 and isrelatively movable with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1. Finemovement stage WFS1 is driven by a fine movement stage drive system 52A(refer to FIG. 3) with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1 in theX-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, the Z-axis direction, the θxdirection, the By direction, and the θz direction (hereinafter expressedas directions of six degrees of freedom, or directions of six degrees offreedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, θz)).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of wafer stage WST1 (coarse movement stageWCS1) is measured by a wafer stage position measurement system 16A.Further, positional information in directions of six degrees of freedom(X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) of fine movement stage WFS1 (or fine movementstage WFS2 which will be described later on) supported by coarsemovement stage WCS1 in exposure station 200 is measured by fine movementstage position measurement system 70A. Measurement results (measurementinformation) of wafer stage position measurement system 16A and finemovement stage position measurement system 70A are supplied to maincontroller 20 (refer to FIG. 3) for position control of coarse movementstage WCS1 and fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2).

Similar to wafer stage WST1, wafer stage WST2 has a wafer coarsemovement stage WCS2, which is supported by levitation above base board12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings (e.g., air bearings (omittedin drawings)) provided on its bottom surface and is driven in the XYtwo-dimensional direction by a coarse movement stage drive system 51B(refer to FIG. 3), and a wafer fine movement stage WFS2, which issupported in a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS2 and isrelatively movable with respect to coarse movement stage WCS2. Finemovement stage WFS2 is driven by a fine movement stage drive system 52B(refer to FIG. 3) with respect to coarse movement stage WCS2 indirections of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, θz).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of wafer stage WST2 (coarse movement stageWCS2) is measured by a wafer stage position measurement system 16B.Further, positional information in directions of six degrees of freedom(X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) of fine movement stage WFS2 (or fine movementstage WFS1) supported by coarse movement stage WCS2 in measurementstation 300 is measured by fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70B. Measurement results of wafer stage position measurementsystem 16B and fine movement stage position measurement system 70B aresupplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 3) for position control ofcoarse movement stage WCS2 and fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1).

Like coarse movement stage WCS1 and WCS2, relay stage DRST is supportedby levitation above base board 12 by a plurality of non-contact bearings(e.g., air bearings (omitted in drawings)) provided on its bottomsurface, and is driven in the XY two-dimensional direction by a relaystage drive system 53 (refer to FIG. 3).

Positional information (also including rotation information in the θzdirection) in the XY plane of relay stage DRST is measured by a positionmeasurement system (not shown) including, for example, an interferometerand/or an encoder and the like. The measurement results of the positionmeasurement system are supplied to main controller 20 for positioncontrol of relay stage DRST.

Furthermore, although illustration is omitted in FIG. 1, as shown inFIG. 5, exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment is equipped with anauxiliary stage AST that has a blade BL, in the vicinity of projectionunit PU. Auxiliary stage AST, as it can be seen from FIG. 5, issupported by levitation above base board 12 by a plurality ofnon-contact bearings (e.g., air bearings (omitted in drawings)) providedon its bottom surface, and is driven in the XY two-dimensional directionby an auxiliary stage drive system 58 (not shown in FIG. 5, refer toFIG. 3).

Configuration and the like of each of the parts configuring the stagesystem including the various measurement systems described above will beexplained in detail, later on.

Besides this, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, a multiplepoint focal point position detection system (hereinafter shortlyreferred to as a multipoint AF system) AF (not shown in FIG. 1, refer toFIG. 3) having a similar configuration as the one disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,332 and the like, is arranged in thevicinity of projection unit PU. Detection signals of multipoint AFsystem AF are supplied to main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 3) via an AFsignal processing system (not shown). Main controller 20 detectspositional information (surface position information) of the wafer Wsurface in the Z-axis direction at a plurality of detection points ofthe multipoint AF system AF based on detection signals of multipoint AFsystem AF, and performs a so-called focus leveling control of wafer Wduring the scanning exposure based on the detection results.Incidentally, positional information (unevenness information) of thewafer W surface can be acquired in advance at the time of waferalignment (EGA) by arranging the multipoint AF system in the vicinity ofaligner 99 (alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄), the so-calledfocus leveling control of wafer W can be performed at the time ofexposure, using the surface position information and measurement valuesof a laser interferometer system 75 (refer to FIG. 3) configuring a partof fine movement stage position measurement system 70A which will bedescribed later on. In this case, multipoint AF system does not have tobe provided in the vicinity of projection unit PU. Incidentally,measurement values of an encoder system 73 which will be described laterconfiguring fine movement stage position measurement system 70A can alsobe used, rather than laser interferometer system 75 in focus levelingcontrol.

Further, as is disclosed in detail in, for example, U.S. Pat. No.5,646,413 and the like, a pair of reticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂(reticle alignment system RA₂ is hidden behind reticle alignment systemRA₁ in the depth of the page surface in FIG. 1.) of an image processingmethod that has an imaging device such as a CCD and the like and uses alight (in the embodiment, illumination light IL) of the exposurewavelength as an illumination light for alignment is placed abovereticle stage RST. The pair of reticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂ isused, in a state where a measurement plate to be described later on finemovement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) is positioned directly below projectionoptical system PL with main controller 20 detecting a projection imageof a pair of reticle alignment marks (omitted in drawings) formed onreticle R and a corresponding pair of first fiducial marks on themeasurement plate via projection optical system PL, to detect adetection center of a projection area of a pattern of reticle R and areference position on the measurement plate using projection opticalsystem PL, namely to detect a positional relation with a center of thepair of first fiducial marks. Detection signals of reticle alignmentdetection systems RA₁ and RA₂ are supplied to main controller 20 (referto FIG. 3) via a signal processing system (not shown). Incidentally,reticle alignment systems RA₁ and RA₂ do not have to be provided. Inthis case, it is desirable for fine movement stage WFS to have adetection system in which a light transmitting section (light-receivingsection) is installed so as to detect a projection image of the reticlealignment mark, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Patent ApplicationPublication No. 2002/0041377 and the like.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram showing an input/output relation of maincontroller 20, which centrally configures a control system of exposureapparatus 100 and has overall control over each part. The control systemis mainly configured of controller 20. Main controller 20 includes aworkstation (or a microcomputer) and the like, and has overall controlover each part of exposure apparatus 100, such as local liquid immersiondevice 8, coarse movement stage drive systems 51A and 51B, fine movementstage drive systems 52A and 52B, and relay stage drive system 53 and thelike previously described.

Now, a configuration and the like of each part of the stage systems willbe described in detail. First of all, wafer stages WST1 and WST2 will bedescribed. In the embodiment, wafer stage WST1 and wafer stage WST2 areconfigured identically, including the drive system, the positionmeasurement system and the like. Accordingly, in the followingdescription, wafer stage WST1 will be taken up and described,representatively.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, coarse movement stage WCS1 is equipped witha rectangular plate shaped coarse movement slides section 91 whoselongitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction in a planar view (whenviewing from the +Z direction), a rectangular plate shaped pair of sidewall sections 92 a and 92 b which are each fixed on the upper surface ofcoarse movement slider section 91 on one end and the other end in thelongitudinal direction in a state parallel to the YZ surface, with theY-axis direction serving as the longitudinal direction, and a pair ofstator sections 93 a and 93 b that are each fixed on the upper surfaceof side wall sections 92 a and 92 b. As a whole, coarse movement stageWCS1 has a box like shape having a low height whose upper surface in acenter in the X-axis direction and surfaces on both sides in the Y-axisdirection are open. More specifically, in coarse movement stage WCS1, aspace is formed inside penetrating in the Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 6, coarse movement stage WSC1 is configured separableinto two sections, which are a first section WCS1 a and a second sectionWCS1 b, with a separation line in the center in the longitudinaldirection of coarse movement slider section 91 serving as a boundary.Accordingly, coarse movement slider section 91 is configured of a firstslider section 91 a which structures a part of the first section WCS1 a,and a second slider section 91 b which structures a part of the secondsection WCS1 b.

Inside base 12, a coil unit is housed, including a plurality of coils 14placed in the shape of a matrix with the XY two-dimensional directionserving as a row direction and a column direction, as shown in FIG. 1.

In correspondence with the coil unit, on the bottom surface of coarsemovement stage WCS1, or more specifically, on the bottom surface of thefirst slider section 91 a and the second slider section 91 b, a magnetunit is provided consisting of a plurality of permanent magnets 18placed in the shape of a matrix with the XY two-dimensional directionserving as a row direction and a column direction, as shown in FIG. 2A.The magnet unit configures coarse movement stage drive systems 51Aa and51Ab (refer to FIG. 3), consisting of a planar motor employing a Lorentzelectromagnetic drive method as is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 5,196,745, along with the coil unit of base board 12. The magnitudeand direction of current supplied to each of the coils 14 configuringthe coil unit are controlled by main controller 20 (refer to FIG. 3).

On the bottom surface of each of the first slider section 91 a and thesecond slider section 91 b, a plurality of air bearings 94 is fixedaround the magnet unit described above. The first section WCS1 a and thesecond section WCS1 b of coarse movement stage WCS1 are each supportedby levitation above base board 12 by a predetermined clearance, such asaround several μm, by air bearings 94, and are driven in the X-axisdirection, the Y-axis direction, and the θz direction by coarse movementstage drive systems 51Aa and 51Ab.

The first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are normallylocked integrally, via a lock mechanism (not shown). More specifically,the first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b normally operateintegrally. Therefore, in the following description, a drive systemconsisting of a planar motor that drives coarse movement stage WCS1,which is made so that the first section WCS1 a and the second sectionWCS1 b are integrally formed, will be referred to as a coarse movementstage drive system 51A (refer to FIG. 3).

Incidentally, as coarse movement stage drive system 51A, the drivemethod is not limited to the planar motor using the Lorentzelectromagnetic force drive method, and for example, a planar motor by avariable reluctance drive system can also be used. Besides this, coarsemovement stage drive system 51A can be configured by a planar motor of amagnetic levitation type. In this case, the air bearings will not haveto be arranged on the bottom surface of coarse movement slider section91.

The pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b is each made of a member witha tabular outer shape, and in the inside, coil units CUa and CUb arehoused consisting of a plurality of coils to drive fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2). The magnitude and direction of current supplied to eachof the coils configuring coil units CUa and CUb are controlled by maincontroller 20 (refer to FIG. 3). The configuration of coil units CUa andCUb will be described further, later in the description. While finemovement stage WFS1 and fine movement stage WFS2 are configuredidentically, and are supported and driven similarly in a non-contactmanner by coarse movement stage WCS1 in this case, in the followingdescription, fine movement stage WFS1 will be taken up and described,representatively.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, the pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 beach have a rectangle tabular shape whose longitudinal direction is inthe Y-axis direction. Stator section 93 a has an end on the +X sidefixed to the upper surface of side wall section 92 a, and stator section93 b has an end on the −X side fixed to the upper surface of side wallsection 92 b.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, fine movement stage WFS1 is equipped with amain body section 81 consisting of an octagonal plate shape member whoselongitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction in a planar view, anda pair of mover sections 82 a and 82 b that are each fixed to one endand the other end of main body section 81 in the longitudinal direction.

Main body section 81 is formed of a transparent material through whichlight can pass, so that a measurement beam (a laser beam) of an encodersystem which will be described later can proceed inside the main bodysection. Further, main body section 81 is formed solid (does not haveany space inside) in order to reduce the influence of air fluctuation tothe laser beam inside the main body section. Incidentally, it ispreferable for the transparent material to have a low thermal expansion,and as an example in the embodiment, synthetic quartz (glass) is used.Incidentally, main body section 81 can be structured all by thetransparent material or only the section which the measurement beam ofthe encoder system passes through can be structured by the transparentmaterial, and only the section which this measurement beam passesthrough can be formed solid.

In the center of the upper surface of main body section 81 (to be moreprecise, a cover glass which will be described later) of fine movementstage WFS1, a wafer holder (not shown) is arranged which holds wafer Wby vacuum suction or the like. In the embodiment, for example, a waferholder of a so-called pin chuck method on which a plurality of supportsections (pin members) supporting wafer W are formed within a loopshaped projecting section (rim section) is used, and grating RG to bedescribed later is provided on the other surface (rear surface) of thewafer holder whose one surface (surface) is a wafer mounting surface.Incidentally, the wafer holder can be formed integrally with finemovement stage WFS1, or can be fixed to main body section 81, forexample, via an electrostatic chuck mechanism, a clamping mechanism, orby adhesion and the like. In the former case, grating RG is to beprovided on a back surface side of fine movement stage WFS1.

Furthermore, on the upper surface of main body section 81 on the outerside of the wafer holder (mounting area of wafer W), as shown in FIGS.2A and 2B, a plate (a liquid repellent plate) 83 is attached that has acircular opening one size larger than wafer W (the wafer holder) formedin the center, and also has an octagonal outer shape (contour)corresponding to main body section 81. A liquid repellent treatmentagainst liquid Lq is applied to the surface of plate 83 (a liquidrepellent surface is formed). Plate 83 is fixed to the upper surface ofmain body section 81, so that its entire surface (or a part of itssurface) becomes substantially flush with the surface of wafer W.Further, in plate 83, on the −Y side end of plate 83, as shown in FIG.2B, a measurement plate 86, which has a narrow rectangular shape in theX-axis direction, is set in a state where its surface is substantiallyflush with the surface of plate 83, or more specifically, the surface ofwafer W. On the surface of measurement plate 86, at least a pair offirst fiducial marks detected by each of the pair of reticle alignmentsystems RA₁ and RA₂ and a second fiducial mark detected by primaryalignment system AL1 are formed (both the first and second fiducialmarks are omitted in the drawing). Incidentally, instead of attachingplate 83 to main body section 81, for example, the wafer holder can beformed integrally with fine movement stage WFS1, and a liquid repellenttreatment can be applied to the upper surface of fine movement stageWFS1 in a periphery area (an area the same as plate 83 (can include thesurface of measurement plate 86) surrounding the wafer holder.

As shown in FIG. 2A, on the upper surface of main body section 81, atwo-dimensional grating (hereinafter merely referred to as a grating) RGis placed horizontally (parallel to the wafer W surface). Grating RG isfixed (or formed) on the upper surface of main body section 81consisting of a transparent material. Grating RG includes a reflectiondiffraction grating (X diffraction grating) whose periodic direction isin the X-axis direction and a reflection diffraction grating (Ydiffraction grating) whose periodic direction is in the Y-axisdirection. In the embodiment, the area (hereinafter, forming area) onmain body section 81 where the two-dimensional grating is fixed orformed, as an example, is in a circular shape which is one size largerthan wafer W.

Grating RG is covered and protected with a protective member, such as,for example, a cover glass 84. In the embodiment, on the upper surfaceof cover glass 84, the holding mechanism (electrostatic chuck mechanismand the like) previously described to hold the wafer holder by suctionis provided. Incidentally, in the embodiment, while cover glass 84 isprovided so as to cover almost the entire surface of the upper surfaceof main body section 81, cover glass 84 can be arranged so as to coveronly a part of the upper surface of main body section 81 which includesgrating RG. Further, while the protective member (cover glass 84) can beformed of the same material as main body section 81, besides this, theprotective member can be formed of, for example, metal or ceramics.Further, although a plate shaped protective member is desirable becausea sufficient thickness is required to protect grating RG, a thin filmprotective member can also be used depending on the material.

Incidentally, of the forming area of grating RG, on a surface of coverglass 84 corresponding to an area where the forming area spreads to theperiphery of the wafer holder, it is desirable, for example, to providea reflection member (e.g., a thin film and the like) which covers theforming area, so that the measurement beam of the encoder systemirradiated on grating RG does not pass through cover glass 84, or morespecifically, so that the intensity of the measurement beam does notchange greatly in the inside and the outside of the area on the rearsurface of the wafer holder.

Moreover, the other surface of the transparent plate which has gratingRG fixed or formed on one surface can be placed in contact or inproximity to the rear surface of the wafer holder and a protectivemember (cover glass 84) can also be provided on the one surface side ofthe transparent plate, or, the one surface of the transparent platewhich has grating RG fixed or formed can be placed in contact or inproximity to the rear surface of the wafer holder, without having theprotective member (cover glass 84) arranged. Especially in the formercase, grating RG can be fixed to or formed on an opaque member such asceramics instead of the transparent plate, or grating RG can be is fixedto or formed on the rear side of the wafer holder. Or, the hold waferholder and grating RG can simply be held by a conventional fine movementstage. Further, the wafer holder can be made of a solid glass member,and grating RG can be placed on the upper surface (a wafer mountingsurface) of the glass member.

As it can also be seen from FIG. 2A, main body section 81 consists of anoverall octagonal plate shape member that has an extending section whichextends outside on one end and the other end in the longitudinaldirection, and on its bottom surface, a recessed section is formed atthe section facing grating RG. Main body section 81 is formed so thatthe center area where grating RG is arranged is a plate whose thicknessis substantially uniform.

On the upper surface of each of the extending sections on the +X sideand the −X side of main body section 81, spacers 85 a and 85 b having aprojecting shape when sectioned are provided, with each of theprojecting sections 89 a and 89 b extending outward in the Y-axisdirection.

As shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, mover section 82 a includes two plate-likemembers 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂ having a rectangular shape in a planar viewwhose size (length) in the Y-axis direction and size (width) in theX-axis direction are both shorter than stator section 93 a (around halfthe size). These two plate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂ are both fixedparallel to the XY plane, in a state set apart only by a predetermineddistance in the Z-axis direction (vertically), via projecting section 89a of spacer 85 a previously described, with respect to the end on the +Xside in the longitudinal direction of main body section 81. In thiscase, the −X side end of plate-like member 82 a 2 is clamped by spacer85 a and the extending section on the +X side of main body section 81.Between the two plate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂, an end on the −Xside of stator section 93 a of coarse movement stage WCS1 is inserted ina non-contact manner. Inside plate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂,magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂ which will be described later are housed.

Mover section 82 b includes two plate-like members 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂maintained at a predetermined distance in the Z-axis direction(vertically), and is configured in a similar manner with mover section82 a, although being symmetrical. Between the two plate-like members 82b ₁ and 82 b ₂, an end on the +X side of stator section 93 b of coarsemovement stage WCS is inserted in a non-contact manner. Insideplate-like members 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂, magnet units MUb₁ and MUb₂ arehoused, which are configured similar to magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂.

Now, as is previously described, because the surface on both sides inthe Y-axis direction is open in coarse movement stage WCS1, whenattaching fine movement stage WFS1 to coarse movement stage WCS1, theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Z-axis direction should bepositioned so that stator section 93 a, 93 b are located betweenplate-like members 82 a ₁ and 82 a ₂, and 82 b ₁ and 82 b ₂,respectively, and then fine movement stage WFS1 can be moved (slid) inthe Y-axis direction.

Next, a configuration of fine movement stage drive system 52A torelatively drive fine movement stage WFS1 with respect to coarsemovement stage WCS1 will be described.

Fine movement stage drive system 52A includes the pair of magnet unitsMUa₁ and MUa₂ that mover section 82 a previously described has, coilunit CUa that stator section 93 a has, the pair of magnet units MUb₁ andMUb₂ that mover section 82 b has, and coil unit CUb that stator section93 b has.

This will be explained further in detail. As it can be seen from FIGS.7, 8A, and 8B, at the end on the −X side inside stator section 93 a, twolines of coil rows are placed a predetermined distance apart in theX-axis direction, which are a plurality of (in this case, twelve) YZcoils (hereinafter appropriately referred to as “coils”) 55 and 57 thathave a rectangular shape in a planar view and are placed equally apartin the Y-axis direction. YZ coil 55 has an upper part winding 55 a and alower part winding 55 b in a rectangular shape in a planar view that aredisposed such that they overlap in the vertical direction (the Z-axisdirection). Further, between the two lines of coil rows described aboveinside stator section 93 a, an X coil (hereinafter shortly referred toas a “coil” as appropriate) 56 is placed, which is narrow and has arectangular shape in a planar view and whose longitudinal direction isin the Y-axis direction. In this case, the two lines of coil rows and Xcoil 56 are placed equally spaced in the X-axis direction. Coil unit CUais configured including the two lines of coil rows and X coil 56.

Incidentally, in the description below, while one of the stator sections93 a of the pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b and mover section 82 asupported by this stator section 93 a will be described using FIGS. 7 to9C, the other (the −X side) stator section 93 b and mover section 82 bwill be structured similar to these sections and will function in asimilar manner. Accordingly, coil unit CUb, and magnet units MUb₁ andMUb₂ are structured similar to coil unit CUa, and magnet units MUa₁ andMUa₂.

Inside plate-like member 82 a ₁ on the +Z side configuring a part ofmovable section 82 a of fine movement stage WFS1, as it can be seen whenreferring to FIGS. 7, 8A, and 8B, two lines of magnet rows are placed apredetermined distance apart in the X-axis direction, which are aplurality of (in this case, ten) permanent magnets 65 a and 67 a thathave a rectangular shape in a planar view and whose longitudinaldirection is in the X-axis direction. The two lines of magnet rows areplaced facing coils 55 and 57, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 8B, the plurality of permanent magnets 65 a areconfigured such that permanent magnets whose upper surface sides (+Zsides) are N poles and the lower surface sides (−Z sides) are S polesand permanent magnets whose upper surface sides (+Z sides) are S polesand the lower surface sides (−Z sides) are N poles are arrangedalternately in the Y-axis direction. The magnet row consisting of theplurality of permanent magnets 67 a is structured similar to the magnetrow consisting of the plurality of permanent magnets 65 a.

Further, between the two lines of magnet rows described above insideplate-like member 82 a ₁, a pair (two) of permanent magnets 66 a ₁ and66 a ₂ whose longitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction is placedset apart in the X axis direction, facing coil 56. As shown in FIG. 8A,permanent magnet 66 a ₁ is configured such that its upper surface side(+Z side) is an N pole and its lower surface side (−Z side) is an Spole, whereas with permanent magnet 66 a ₂, its upper surface side (+Zside) is an S pole and its lower surface side (−Z side) is an N pole.

Magnet unit MUa₁ is configured by the plurality of permanent magnets 65a and 67 a, and 66 a ₁ and 66 a ₂ described above.

As shown in FIG. 8A, also inside plate-like member 82 a ₂ on the −Zside, permanent magnets 65 b, 66 b ₁, 66 b ₂, and 67 b are placed in aplacement similar to plate-like member 82 a ₁ on the +Z side describedabove. Magnet unit MUa₂ is configured by these permanent magnets 65 b,66 b ₁, 66 b ₂, and 67 b. Incidentally, in FIG. 7, permanent magnets 65b, 66 b ₁, 66 b ₂, and 67 b inside plate-like members 82 a ₂ on the −Zside are placed in the depth of the page surface, with magnets 65 a, 66a ₁, 66 a ₂, and 67 a placed on top.

Now, with fine movement stage drive system 52A, as shown in FIG. 8B,positional relation (each distance) in the Y-axis direction between theplurality of permanent magnets 65 and the plurality of YZ coils 55 isset so that when in the plurality of permanent magnets (in FIG. 8B,permanent magnets 65 a ₁ to 65 a ₅ which are sequentially arranged alongthe Y-axis direction) placed adjacently in the Y-axis direction, twoadjacent permanent magnets 65 a ₁ and 65 a ₂ each face the windingsection of YZ coil 55 ₁, then permanent magnet 65 a ₃ adjacent to thesepermanent magnets does not face the winding section of YZ coil 55 ₂adjacent to YZ coil 55 ₁ described above (so that permanent magnet 65 a₃ faces the hollow center in the center of the coil, or faces a core,such as an iron core, to which the coil is wound). Incidentally, asshown in FIG. 8B, permanent magnets 65 a ₄ and 65 a ₅ each face thewinding section of YZ coil 55 ₃, which is adjacent to YZ coil 55 ₂. Thedistance between permanent magnets 65 b, 67 a, and 67 b in the Y-axisdirection is also similar (refer to FIG. 8B).

Accordingly, in fine movement stage drive system 52A, as an example,when a clockwise electric current when viewed from the +Z direction issupplied to the upper part winding and the lower part winding of coils55 ₁ and 55 ₃, respectively, as shown in FIG. 9A in a state shown inFIG. 8B, a force (Lorentz force) in the −Y direction acts on coils 55 ₁and 55 ₃, and as a reaction force, a force in the +Y direction acts onpermanent magnets 65 a and 65 b. By these action of forces, finemovement stage WFS1 moves in the +Y direction with respect to coarsemovement stage WCS1. When a counterclockwise electric current whenviewed from the +Z direction is supplied to each of the coils 55 ₁ and55 ₃ conversely to the case described above, fine movement stage WFS1moves in the −Y direction with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1.

By supplying an electric current to coil 57, electromagnetic interactionis performed between permanent magnet 67 (67 a, 67 b) and fine movementstage WFS1 can be driven in the Y-axis direction. Main controller 20controls a position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis directionby controlling the current supplied to each coil.

Further, in fine movement stage drive system 52A, as an example, when acounterclockwise electric current when viewed from the +Z direction issupplied to the upper part winding of coil 55 ₂ and a clockwise electriccurrent when viewed from the +Z direction is supplied to the lower partwinding as shown in FIG. 9B in a state shown in FIG. 8B, an attractionforce is generated between coil 55 ₂ and permanent magnet 65 a ₃ whereasa repulsive force (repulsion) is generated between coil 55 ₂ andpermanent magnet 65 b ₃, respectively, and by these attraction force andrepulsive force, fine movement stage WFS1 is moved downward (−Zdirection) with respect to coarse movement stage WSC1, or moreparticularly, moved in a descending direction. When a current in adirection opposite to the case described above is supplied to the upperpart winding and the lower part winding of coil 55 ₂, respectively, finemovement stage WFS1 moves upward (+Z direction) with respect to coarsemovement stage WCS1, or more particularly, moves in an upward direction.Main controller 20 controls a position of fine movement stage WFS1 inthe Z-axis direction which is in a levitated state by controlling thecurrent supplied to each coil.

Further, in a state shown in FIG. 8A, when a clockwise electric currentwhen viewed from the +Z direction is supplied to coil 56, a force in the+X direction acts on coil 56 as shown in FIG. 9C, and as its reaction, aforce in the −X direction acts on permanent magnets 66 a ₁ and 66 a ₂,and 66 b ₁ and 66 b ₂, respectively, and fine movement stage WFS1 ismoved in the −X direction with respect to coarse movement stage WSC1.Further, when a counterclockwise electric current when viewed from the+Z direction is supplied to coil 56 conversely to the case describedabove, a force in the +X direction acts on permanent magnets 66 a ₁ and66 a ₂, and 66 b ₁ and 66 b ₂, and fine movement stage WFS1 is moved inthe +X direction with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1. Maincontroller 20 controls a position of fine movement stage WFS1 in theX-axis direction by controlling the current supplied to each coil.

As is obvious from the description above, in the embodiment, maincontroller 20 drives fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction bysupplying an electric current alternately to the plurality of YZ coils55 and 57 that are arranged in the Y-axis direction. Further, along withthis, by supplying electric current to coils of YZ coils 55 and 57 thatare not used to drive fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction,main controller 20 generates a drive force in the Z-axis directionseparately from the drive force in the Y-axis direction and makes finemovement stage WFS1 levitate from coarse movement stage WCS1. And, maincontroller 20 drives fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis directionwhile maintaining the levitated state of fine movement stage WFS1 withrespect to coarse movement stage WCS1, namely a noncontact state, bysequentially switching the coil subject to current supply according tothe position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction.Further, main controller 20 can also drive fine movement stage WFS1independently in the X-axis direction along with the Y-axis direction,in a state where fine movement stage WFS1 is levitated from coarsemovement stage WCS1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10A, for example, main controller 20 can makefine movement stage WFS1 rotate around the Z-axis (θz rotation) (referto the outlined arrow in FIG. 10A), by applying a drive force (thrust)in the Y-axis direction having a different magnitude to both moversection 82 a on the +X side and mover section 82 b on the −X side offine movement stage WFS1 (refer to the black arrow in FIG. 10A).Incidentally, in contrast with FIG. 10A, by making the drive forceapplied to mover section 82 a on the +X side larger than the −X side,fine movement stage WFS1 can be made to rotate counterclockwise withrespect to the Z-axis.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10B, main controller 20 can make fine movementstage WFS1 rotate around the Y-axis (θy drive) (refer to the outlinedarrow in FIG. 10B), by applying a different levitation force (refer tothe black arrows in FIG. 10B) to both mover section 82 a on the +X sideand mover section 82 b on the −X side of fine movement stage WFS1.Incidentally, in contrast with FIG. 10B, by making the levitation forceapplied to mover section 82 a on the +X side larger than the −X side,fine movement stage WFS1 can be made to rotate counterclockwise withrespect to the Y-axis.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10C, for example, main controller 20 can makefine movement stage WFS1 rotate around the X-axis (θx drive) (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 10C), by applying a different levitationforce to both mover sections 82 a and 82 b of fine movement stage WFS1on the + side and the − side in the Y-axis direction (refer to the blackarrow in FIG. 10C). Incidentally, in contrast with FIG. 10C, by makingthe levitation force applied to mover section 82 a (and 82 b) on the −Yside smaller than the levitation force on the +Y side, fine movementstage WFS1 can be made to rotate counterclockwise with respect to theX-axis.

As it can be seen from the description above, in the embodiment, finemovement stage drive system 52A supports fine movement stage WFS1 bylevitation in a non-contact state with respect to coarse movement stageWCS1, and can also drive fine movement stage WFS1 in a non-contactmanner in directions of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, θz)with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1.

Further, in the embodiment, by supplying electric current to the twolines of coils 55 and 57 (refer to FIG. 7) placed inside stator section93 a in directions opposite to each other when applying the levitationforce to fine movement stage WFS1, for example, main controller 20 canapply a rotational force (refer to the outlined arrow in FIG. 11) aroundthe Y-axis simultaneously with the levitation force (refer to the blackarrow in FIG. 11) with respect to mover section 82 a, as shown in FIG.11. Further, by applying a rotational force around the Y-axis to each ofthe pair of mover sections 82 a and 82 b in directions opposite to eachother, main controller 20 can deflect the center of fine movement stageWFS1 in the +Z direction or the −Z direction (refer to the hatched arrowin FIG. 11). Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 11, by bending the center offine movement stage WFS1 in the +Z direction, the deflection in themiddle part of fine movement stage WFS1 (main body section 81) in theX-axis direction due to the self-weight of wafer W and main body section81 can be canceled out, and degree of parallelization of the wafer Wsurface with respect to the XY plane (horizontal surface) can besecured. This is particularly effective, in the case such as when thediameter of wafer W becomes large and fine movement stage WFS1 alsobecomes large.

Further, when wafer W is deformed by its own weight and the like, thereis a risk that the surface of wafer W mounted on fine movement stageWFS1 will no longer be within the range of the depth of focus ofprojection optical system PL within the irradiation area (exposure areaIA) of illumination light IL. Therefore, similar to the case describedabove where main controller 20 deflects the center in the X-axisdirection of fine movement stage WFS1 to the +Z direction, by applying arotational force around the Y-axis to each of the pair of mover sections82 a and 82 b in directions opposite to each other, wafer W is deformedto be substantially flat, and the surface of wafer W within exposurearea IA can fall within the range of the depth of focus of projectionoptical system PL. Incidentally, while FIG. 11 shows an example wherefine movement stage WFS1 is bent in the +Z direction (a convex shape),fine movement stage WFS1 can also be bent in a direction opposite tothis (a concave shape) by controlling the direction of the electriccurrent supplied to the coils.

Incidentally, the method of making fine movement stage WFS (and wafer Wheld by this stage) deform in a concave shape or a convex shape within asurface (XZ plane) perpendicular to the Y-axis can be applied, not onlyin the case of correcting deflection caused by its own weight and/orfocus leveling control, but also in the case of employing asuper-resolution technology which substantially increases the depth offocus by changing the position in the Z-axis direction at apredetermined point within the range of the depth of focus, while thepredetermined point within the shot area of wafer W crosses exposurearea IA.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, at the time of exposureoperation by the step-and-scan method to wafer W, positional information(including the positional information in the θz direction) in the XYplane of fine movement stage WFS1 is measured by main controller 20using an encoder system 73 (refer to FIG. 3) of fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A which will be described later on. Thepositional information of fine movement stage WFS1 is sent to maincontroller 20, which controls the position of fine movement stage WFS1based on the positional information.

On the other hand, when wafer stage WST1 (fine movement stage WFS1) islocated outside the measurement area of fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A, the positional information of wafer stage WST1(fine movement stage WFS1) is measured by main controller 20 using waferstage position measurement system 16A (refer to FIGS. 1 and 3). As shownin FIG. 1, wafer stage position measurement system 16A includes a laserinterferometer which irradiates a measurement beam on a reflectionsurface formed on the coarse movement stage WCS1 side surface bymirror-polishing and measures positional information of wafer stage WST1in the XY plane. Incidentally, although illustration is omitted in FIG.1, in actual practice, a Y reflection surface perpendicular to theY-axis and an X reflection surface perpendicular to the X-axis areformed on coarse movement stage WCS1, and corresponding to thesesurfaces, an X interferometer and a Y interferometer are provided whichirradiate measurement beams, respectively, on to the X reflectionsurface and the Y reflection surface. Incidentally, in wafer stageposition measurement system 16A, for example, the Y interferometer has aplurality of measurement axes, and positional information (rotationalinformation) in the θz direction of wafer stage WST1 can also bemeasured, based on an output of each of the measurement axes.Incidentally, the positional information of wafer stage WST1 in the XYplane can be measured using other measurement devices, such as forexample, an encoder system, instead of wafer stage position measurementsystem 16A described above. In this case, for example, a two-dimensionalscale can be placed on the upper surface of base board 12, and anencoder head can be arranged on the bottom surface of coarse movementstage WCS1.

As is previously described, fine movement stage WFS2 is configuredidentical to fine movement stage WFS1 described above, and can besupported in a non-contact manner by coarse movement stage WCS1 insteadof fine movement stage WFS1. In this case, coarse movement stage WCS1and fine movement stage WFS2 supported by coarse movement stage WCS1configure wafer stage WST1, and a pair of mover sections (one pair eachof magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂, and MUb₁ and MUb₂) equipped in finemovement stage WFS2 and a pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b (coilunits CUa and CUb) of coarse movement stage WCS1 configure fine movementstage drive system 52A. And by this fine movement stage drive system52A, fine movement stage WFS2 is driven in a non-contact manner indirections of six degrees of freedom with respect to coarse movementstage WCS1.

Further, fine movement stages WFS2 and WFS1 can each make coarsemovement stage WCS2 support them in a non-contact manner, and coarsemovement stage WCS2 and fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 supported bycoarse movement stage WCS2 configure wafer stage WST2. In this case, apair of mover sections (one pair each of magnet units MUa₁ and MUa₂, andMUb_(t) and MUb₂) equipped in fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 and apair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b (coil units CUa and CUb) of coarsemovement stage WCS2 configure fine movement stage drive system 52B(refer to FIG. 3). And by this fine movement stage drive system 52B,fine movement stage WFS2 or WFS1 is driven in a non-contact manner indirections of six degrees of freedom with respect to coarse movementstage WCS2.

Referring back to FIG. 1, relay stage DRST is equipped with a stage mainsection 44 configured similar to coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2(however, it is not structured so that it can be divided into a firstsection and a second section), and a carrier apparatus 46 (refer to FIG.3) provided inside stage main section 44. Accordingly, stage mainsection 44 can support (hold) fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2 in anon-contact manner as in coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, and thefine movement stage supported by relay stage DRST can be driven indirections of six degrees of freedom (X, Y, Z, θx, θy, and θz) by finemovement stage drive system 52C (refer to FIG. 3) with respect to relaystage DRST. However, the fine movement stage should be slidable at leastin the Y-axis direction with respect to relay stage DRST.

Carrier apparatus 46 is equipped with a carrier member main sectionwhich is reciprocally movable in the Y-axis direction with apredetermined stroke along both of the side walls in the X-axisdirection of stage main section 44 of relay stage DRST and is verticallymovable also in the Z-axis direction with a predetermined stroke, acarrier member 48 including a movable member which can relatively movein the Y-axis direction with respect to the carrier member main sectionwhile holding fine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2, and a carrier memberdrive system 54 (refer to FIG. 3) which can individually drive thecarrier member main section configuring carrier member 48 and themovable member.

Next, auxiliary stage AST will be described. FIGS. 12A, 12B, and 12Cshow a side view (a view seen from the +Y direction), a front view (aview seen from the +X direction), and a planar view (a view seen fromthe +Z direction) of auxiliary stage AST which is located right underprojection optical system PL, respectively. As it can be seen from FIGS.12A to 12C, auxiliary stage AST is equipped with a rectangular shapedslider section 60 a whose longitudinal direction is in the X-axisdirection in a planar view (when seen from the +Z direction), a squarecolumn shaped support section 60 b fixed on the −X side half of theupper surface of slider section 60 a, a rectangular shaped table 60 cwhose −X side half is supported by support section 60 b, and aplate-like blade BL fixed on the upper surface of table 60 c.

On the bottom surface of slider section 60 a, although it is not shown,a magnet unit is provided which is made up of a plurality of permanentmagnets that configure an auxiliary stage drive system 58 (refer to FIG.3) made up of a planar motor using the Lorenz electromagnetic forcedrive method, along with the coil unit of 10 o base board 12. On thebottom surface of slider section 60 a, a plurality of air bearings isfixed around the magnet unit described above. Auxiliary stage AST issupported by levitation above base board 12 by a predeterminedclearance, such as around several μm, by the plurality of air bearings,and is driven in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction byauxiliary stage drive system 58.

Usually, auxiliary stage AST waits at a waiting position distanced by apredetermined distance or more on the −X side of measurement arm 71A, asshown in FIG. 19. Because blade BL configures a part of auxiliary stageAST, when auxiliary stage AST is driven within the XY plane, then bladeBL is also driven in the XY plane. More specifically, auxiliary stagedrive system 58 also serves as a blade drive system which drives bladeBL in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

As shown in FIGS. 12B and 12C, blade BL is made of a plate member havinga rough rectangular shape whose part of a +Y end protrudes out more thanother parts, and is fixed to the upper surface of table 60 c in a statewhere the protruding part protrudes out from the upper surface of table60 c.

The upper surface of blade BL has liquid repellency to liquid Lq. BladeBL, for example, includes a metal base material such as stainless steeland the like, and a film of a liquid-repellent material formed on thesurface of the base material. The liquid-repellent material includes,for example, PFA (Tetra fluoro ethylene-perfluoro alkylvinyl ethercopolymer), PTFE (Poly tetra fluoro ethylene), Teflon (a registeredtrademark) and the like. Incidentally, the material forming the film canbe an acrylic-based resin or a silicone-based resin. Further, the wholeblade BL can be formed of at least one of the PFA, PTFE, Teflon (aregistered trademark), acrylic-based resin, and silicone-based resin. Inthe embodiment, the contact angle of the upper surface of blade BL toliquid Lq is, for example, 90 degrees or more.

Auxiliary stage AST is engageable with measurement arm 71A from the −Xside via a predetermined space, and in the engaged state, blade BL islocated right above measurement arm 71A. Further, blade BL can be incontact or in proximity with fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2), whichis supported by coarse movement stage WCS1, from the −Y side, and asurface appearing to be completely flat (for example, refer to FIG. 20)is formed in the contact or proximity state with the upper surface offine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2). Blade BL (auxiliary stage AST) isdriven by main controller 20 via auxiliary stage drive system 58, andperforms delivery of a liquid immersion space (liquid Lq) with finemovement stage WFS1 (or WFS2). Incidentally, the delivery of the liquidimmersion space (liquid Lq) between blade BL and fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) will be described further later on.

Inside table 60 c, various measuring instruments for measuring opticalproperties of the projection optical system, such as, for example, anuneven illuminance measuring sensor (not shown), a wavefront aberrationmeasuring instrument (not shown), an aerial image measuring instrument61 and the like are provided. As the uneven illuminance measuringsensor, a sensor having a configuration disclosed in, for example, Kokai(Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication) No. 57-117238 (thecorresponding U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,368) and the like can be employed. Asthe wavefront aberration measuring instrument, a measuring instrument bythe Shack-Hartman method that is disclosed in, for example, PCTInternational Publication No. 03/065428 and the like, can be employed.Further, as aerial image measuring instrument 61, a measuring instrumenthaving a configuration disclosed in, for example, Kokai (JapaneseUnexamined Patent Application Publication) No. 2002-014005 (thecorresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2002/0041377) andthe like, can be employed.

FIG. 12A representatively shows a configuration of aerial imagemeasuring instrument 61. In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, for example,the thickness of table 60 c including blade BL is about the samethickness as fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2. Aerial image measuringinstrument 61 has an optical system including optical members placed onthe upper surface and the inside of auxiliary stage AST (table 60 c)such as, for example, a slit plate 61 a, mirrors 61 b and 61 c, alight-transmitting lens 61 d, and other members, and a photodetectionsystem fixed to main frame BD, or more specifically, a photodetectionlens 62 a, and an optical sensor 62 b.

Slit plate 61 a is placed in a state where a circular opening formed inthe plate member configuring blade BL is blocked so that the uppersurface of slit plate 61 a is flush with the upper surface of blade BL,and configures blade BL which appears to be integral and completelyflat, along with the plate member. Here, the upper surface of slit plate61 a, or more specifically, the height of the upper surface of blade BL,is approximately equal to the upper surface of fine movement stage WFS1(or WFS2) supported by coarse movement stage WCS1 (or WCS2), and theheight of the surface of wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1 (orWFS2). Slit plate 61 a has a circular light receiving glass formed bysynthetic quarts or fluorite that has high permeability to illuminationlight IL, a reflecting film (also serving as a light-shielding film)made of a thin metal film such as aluminum and the like formed outsideof the circular area in the center of the upper surface, and alight-shielding film made of a chromic thin film formed within thecircular area. In light-shielding film (slit plate 61 a), as shown inFIG. 13A, an aperture pattern (X slit) 61X having a predetermined width(e.g., 0.2 μm) whose longitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction,and an aperture pattern (Y slit) 61Y having a predetermined width (e.g.,0.2 μm) whose longitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction areformed by patterning.

Below slit plate 61 a, mirror 61 b is obliquely provided at an angle of45 degrees with respect to optical axis AX. Therefore, illuminationlight IL (an image light flux) entering vertically downward (the −Zdirection) via slit plate 61 a has its optical path bent in the −Xdirection by mirror 61 b. On the optical path of illumination light ILwhich has been bent, furthermore, mirror 61 c which bends the opticalpath vertically upward (the +Z direction) is placed. Light-transmittinglens 61 d, which sends out illumination light IL whose optical path hasbeen bent by mirror 61 c outside of table 60 c, is fixed to the uppersurface of table 60 c. In addition, lenses are placed, appropriately, onthe optical path from slit plate 61 a to light-transmitting lens 61 d.

On the lower surface of main frame BD above (the +Z direction)light-transmitting lens 61 d, photodetection system 62 is fixed in astate where a part of the housing is exposed outside of main frame BD.In the housing, photodetection lens 62 a and optical sensor 62 b thatconfigure photodetection system 62 are placed. Here, photodetection lens62 a is fixed to the opening on the lower side (the −Z side) of thehousing, and optical sensor 62 b is fixed to the upper side (the +Zside) of photodetection lens 62 a, in a downward direction (the −Zdirection). As optical sensor 62 b, a photoelectric conversion element(a light receiving element), such as, for example, a photo multipliertubes (PMT, photomultiplier) that detects faint light with goodprecision is used.

Output signals of photodetection system 62 (optical sensor 62 b) aresent to a signal processing device (not shown) including, for example,an amplifier, an A/D converter (normally, a converter having a 16-bitresolution is used) and the like where a predetermined signal processingis applied by the signal processing device, and then the signals aresent to main controller 20.

When optical properties of projection optical system PL are measuredusing aerial image measuring instrument 61, main controller 20 movesauxiliary stage AST right under projection optical system PL in order toposition slit plate 61 a, for example, on optical axis AX of projectionoptical system PL, as shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C. At the same time, maincontroller 20 drives reticle stage RST so as to position reticlefiducial plate RFM (refer to FIG. 13B) provided on reticle stage RST,for example, on optical axis AX. Now, on reticle fiducial plate RFM, asshown in FIG. 13B, an X measurement mark PMX, which is a plurality ofaperture patterns arranged in the X-axis direction that have apredetermined width (e.g., 0.8 μm, 1 μm or 1.6 μm) and whoselongitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction, and a Y measurementmark PMY, which is a plurality of aperture patterns arranged in theY-axis direction that have a predetermined width (e.g., 0.8 μm, 1 μm or1.6 μm) and whose longitudinal direction is in the X-axis direction, areformed.

Main controller 20 drives auxiliary stage AST (slit plate 61 a) in theX-axis direction (or the Y-axis direction) as is shown by an outlinedarrow in FIG. 13C (or FIG. 13D) via auxiliary stage drive system 58,while projecting illumination light IL on slit plate 61 a via Xmeasurement mark PMX (or Y measurement mark PMY) of reticle fiducialplate RFM, projection optical system PL, and the liquid immersion space(liquid Lq), so that X slit 61X (or Y slit 61Y) of slit plate 61 a isscanned in the X-axis direction (or the Y-axis direction) with respectto a projection image of X measurement mark PMX (or Y measurement markPMY).

FIG. 13C shows a state where X slit 61X is scanned with respect to animage (indicated by a broken line in the drawing) of X measurement markPMX projected on the plate member configuring blade BL including slitplate 61 a, by the projection of illumination light IL described above.Further, FIG. 13D shows a state where Y slit 61Y is scanned with respectto an image (indicated by a broken line in the drawing) of Y measurementmark PMY projected on the plate member configuring blade BL includingslit plate 61 a.

During the scanning of slit plate 61 a described above, illuminationlight IL passes through X slit 61X (or Y slit 61Y), and then is guidedoutside of table 60 c sequentially, via mirrors 61 b and 61 c, andlight-transmitting lens 61 d. Illumination light IL, which has beenguided outside, is received by photodetection system 62, and a lightquantity signal of illumination light IL passes through the signalprocessing device (not shown) and then is sent to main controller 20.

During the scanning, main controller 20 takes in the light amount signalfrom photodetection system 62, along with positional information ofauxiliary stage AST. This allows main controller 20 to obtain a profile(an aerial image profile) of a projection image (an aerial image) of Xmeasurement mark PMX (or Y measurement mark PMY).

Next, a concrete configuration and the like of aligner 99 shown in FIG.1 will be described, referring to FIG. 14.

FIG. 14 shows a perspective view of aligner 99 in a state wheremainframe BD is partially broken. As described above, aligner 99 isequipped with primary alignment system AL1 and four secondary alignmentsystems AL2 ₁, AL2 ₂, AL2 ₃, and AL2 ₄. The pair of secondary alignmentsystems AL2 ₁ and AL2 ₂ placed on the +X side of primary alignmentsystem AL1 and the pair of secondary alignment systems AL2 ₃ and AL2 ₄placed on the −X side have a symmetric configuration centered on primaryalignment system AL1. Further, as is disclosed in, for example, PCTInternational Publication No. 2008/056735 (the corresponding U.S. PatentApplication Publication No. 2009/0233234), secondary alignment systemsAL21 to AL24 are independently movable by a drive system which includesa slider, a drive mechanism and the like that will be described lateron.

Primary alignment system AL1 is supported via a support member 202, in asuspended state at the lower surface of mainframe BD. As primaryalignment system AL1, for example, an FIA (Field Image Alignment) systemby an image processing method is used that irradiates a broadbanddetection beam that does not expose the resist on a wafer to a subjectmark, and picks up an image of the subject mark formed on alight-receiving plane by the reflected light from the subject mark andan image of an index (an index pattern on an index plate arranged withineach alignment system) (not shown), using an imaging device (such as aCCD), and then outputs their imaging signals. The imaging signals fromthis primary alignment system AL1 are supplied to main controller 20(refer to FIG. 3).

Sliders SL1 and SL2 are fixed to the upper surface of secondaryalignment systems AL2 ₁ and AL2 ₂, respectively. On the +Z side ofsliders SL1 and SL2, an FIA surface plate 302 is provided fixed to thelower surface of mainframe BD. Further, sliders SL3 and SL4 are fixed tothe upper surface of secondary alignment systems AL2 ₃ and AL2 ₄,respectively. On the +Z side of sliders SL3 and SL4, an FIA surfaceplate 102 is provided fixed to the lower surface of mainframe BD.

Secondary alignment system AL2 ₄ is an FIA system like primary alignmentsystem AL1, and includes a roughly L-shaped barrel 109 in which anoptical member such as a lens has been arranged. On the upper surface (asurface on the +Z side) of the portion extending in the Y-axis directionof barrel 109, slider SL4 previously described is fixed, and this sliderSL4 is arranged facing FIA surface plate 102 previously described.

FIA surface plate 102 is made of a material (e.g., Invar and the like)which is a magnetic material also having a low thermal expansion, and anarmature unit including a plurality of armature coils are arranged in apart of the plate (near the end on the +Y side). As an example, thearmature unit includes two Y drive coils and a pair of X drive coilgroups. Further, in the inside of FIA surface plate 102, a liquid flowchannel (not shown) is formed, and by the cooling liquid which flowsthrough the flow channel, the temperature of FIA surface plate 102 iscontrolled (cooled) to a predetermined temperature.

Slider SL4 includes a slider main section, a plurality of static gasbearings provided in the slider main section, a plurality of permanentmagnets, and a magnet unit. As the static gas bearings, a static gasbearing of a so-called ground gas supply type is used that supplies gasvia a gas flow channel within FIA surface plate 102. The plurality ofpermanent magnets face FIA surface plate 102 made of the magneticmaterial previously described, and a magnetic attraction acts constantlybetween the plurality of permanent magnets and FIA surface plate 102.Accordingly, while gas is not supplied to the plurality of static gasbearings, slider SL4 moves closest to (is in contact with) the lowersurface of FIA surface plate 102 by a magnetic attraction. When gas issupplied to the plurality of static gas bearings, a repulsion occursbetween FIA surface plate 102 and slider SL4 due to static pressure ofthe gas. By a balance between the magnetic attraction and the staticpressure (repulsion) of the gas, slider SL4 is maintained (held) in astate where a predetermined clearance is formed between the uppersurface of the slider and the lower surface of FIA surface plate 102.Hereinafter, the former is referred to as a “landed state”, and thelatter will be referred to as a “floating state”.

The magnet unit is provided corresponding to the armature unitpreviously described, and in the embodiment, by an electromagneticinteraction between the magnet unit and the armature unit (the two Ydrive coils and the pair of X drive coil groups), a drive force in theX-axis direction, a drive force in the Y-axis direction, and a driveforce in a rotational (θz) direction around the Z-axis can be applied toslider SL4. Incidentally, in the description below, a drive mechanism(an actuator) configured by the magnet unit and the armature unitdescribed above will be referred to as an “alignment system motor”.

Secondary alignment system AL2 ₃ placed on the +X side of secondaryalignment system AL2 ₄ is configured in a similar manner as secondaryalignment system AL2 ₄ described above, and slider SL3 is alsostructured almost the same as slider SL4. Further, between slider SL3and FIA surface plate 102, a drive mechanism (an alignment system motor)as in the drive mechanism previously described is provided.

When driving (adjusting the position of) secondary alignment systems AL2₄ and AL2 ₃, main controller 20 supplies gas to the static gas bearingspreviously described, and by forming a predetermined clearance betweensliders SL4 and SL3 and FIA surface plate 102, makes sliders SL4 and SL3move into the floating state described above. Then, by controlling theelectric current supplied to the armature unit configuring each of thealignment system motors based on the measurement values of themeasurement devices (not shown) in a state maintaining the floatingstate, main controller 20 finely drives slider SL4 (secondary alignmentsystem AL2 ₄) and slider SL3 (secondary alignment system AL2 ₃) in theX-axis, the Y-axis and the θz directions.

Referring back to FIG. 14, secondary alignment systems AL2 ₁ and AL2 ₂also have a configuration like secondary alignment systems AL2 ₃ and AL2₄ described above, while slider SL2 has a configuration in symmetry withslider SL3 described above, and slider SL1 has a configuration insymmetry with slider SL4 described above. Further, the configuration ofFIA surface plate 302 is in symmetry with the configuration of FIAsurface plate 102 described above.

Next, a configuration of fine movement stage position measurement system70A (refer to FIG. 3) used to measure the positional information of finemovement stage WFS1 or WFS2 (configuring wafer stage WST1), which ismovably held by coarse movement stage WCS1 in exposure station 200, willbe described. In this case, the case will be described where finemovement stage position measurement system 70A measures the positionalinformation of fine movement stage WFS1.

As shown in FIG. 1, fine movement stage position measurement system 70Ais equipped with an arm member (a measurement arm 71A) which is insertedin a space inside coarse movement stage WCS1 in a state where waferstage WST1 is placed below projection optical system PL. Measurement arm71A is supported in a cantilevered state (the vicinity of one end issupported) by main frame BD of exposure apparatus 100 via a supportmember 72A. Incidentally, in the case a configuration is employed wherethe arm member does not interfere with the movement of the wafer stage,the configuration is not limited to the cantilever support, and bothends in the longitudinal direction can be supported. Further, the armmember should be located further below (the −Z side) grating RG (theplacement plane substantially parallel to the XY plane) previouslydescribed, and for example, can be placed lower than the upper surfaceof base board 12. Furthermore, while the arm member was to be supportedby main frame BD, for example, the arm member can be installed on aninstallation surface (such as a floor surface) via a vibration isolationmechanism. In this case, it is desirable to arrange a measuring devicewhich measures a relative positional relation between main frame BD andthe arm member. The arm member can also be referred to as a metrologyarm or a measurement member.

Measurement arm 71A is a square column shaped (that is, a rectangularsolid shape) member having a longitudinal rectangular cross sectionwhose longitudinal direction is in the Y-axis direction and size in aheight direction (the Z-axis direction) is larger than the size in awidth direction (the X-axis direction), and is made of a material whichis the same that transmits light, such as, for example, a glass memberaffixed in plurals. Measurement arm 71A is formed solid, except for theportion where the encoder head (an optical system) which will bedescribed later is housed. In the state where wafer stage WST1 is placedbelow projection optical system PL as previously described, the tip ofmeasurement arm 71A is inserted into the space of coarse movement stageWCS1, and its upper surface faces the lower surface (to be more precise,the lower surface of main body section 81 (not shown in FIG. 1, refer toFIG. 2A) of fine movement stage WFS1 as shown in FIG. 1. The uppersurface of measurement arm 71A is placed almost parallel with the lowersurface of fine movement stage WFS1, in a state where a predeterminedclearance, such as, for example, around several mm, is formed with thelower surface of fine movement stage WFS1. Incidentally, the clearancebetween the upper surface of measurement arm 71A and the lower surfaceof fine movement stage WFS can be more than or less than several mm.

As shown in FIG. 3, fine movement stage position measurement system 70Ais equipped with encoder system 73 which measures the position of finemovement stage WFS1 in the X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, andthe θz direction, and laser interferometer system 75 which measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Z-axis direction, the θxdirection, and the θy direction. Encoder system 73 includes an X linearencoder 73 x measuring the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in theX-axis direction, and a pair of Y linear encoders 73 ya and 73 yb(hereinafter, also appropriately referred to together as Y linearencoder 73 y) measuring the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in theY-axis direction. In encoder system 73, a head of a diffractioninterference type is used that has a configuration similar to an encoderhead (hereinafter shortly referred to as a head) disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 7,238,931, and PCT International Publication No.2007/083758 (the corresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2007/0288121). However, in the embodiment, a light source and aphotodetection system (including a photodetector) of the head are placedexternal to measurement arm 71A as in the description later on, and onlyan optical system is placed inside measurement arm 71A, or morespecifically, facing grating RG. Hereinafter, the optical system placedinside measurement arm 71A will be referred to as a head, besides thecase when specifying is especially necessary.

FIG. 15A shows a tip of measurement arm 71A in a perspective view, andFIG. 15B shows an upper surface of the tip of measurement arm 71A in aplanar view when viewed from the +Z direction. Encoder system 73measures the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axisdirection using one X head 77 x (refer to FIGS. 16A and 16B), and theposition in the Y-axis direction using a pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb(refer to FIG. 16B). More specifically, X linear encoder 73 x previouslydescribed is configured by X head 77 x which measures the position offine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axis direction using an X diffractiongrating of grating RG, and the pair of Y linear encoders 73 ya and 73 ybis configured by the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb which measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction using a Ydiffraction grating of grating RG.

As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, X head 77 x irradiates measurement beamsLBx₁ and LBx₂ (indicated by a solid line in FIG. 15A) on grating RG fromtwo points (refer to the white circles in FIG. 15B) on a straight lineLX parallel to the X-axis that are at an equal distance from a centerline CL of measurement arm 71A. Measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ areirradiated on the same irradiation point on grating RG (refer to FIG.16A). The irradiation point of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂, that is,a detection point of X head 77 x (refer to reference code DP in FIG.15B) coincides with an exposure position which is the center of anirradiation area (exposure area) IA of illumination light IL irradiatedon wafer W (refer to FIG. 1). Incidentally, while measurement beams LBx₁and LBx₂ are actually refracted at a boundary and the like of main bodysection 81 and an atmospheric layer, it is shown simplified in FIG. 16Aand the like.

As shown in FIG. 16B, each of the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb areplaced on the +X side and the −X side of center line CL of measurementarm 71A. As shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B, Y head 77 ya is placed on astraight line LYa which is parallel to the Y-axis, and irradiatesmeasurement beams LBya₁ and LBya₂ that are each shown by a broken linein FIG. 15A on a common irradiation point on grating RG from two points(refer to the white circles in FIG. 15B) which are distanced equallyfrom straight line LX. The irradiation point of measurement beams LBya₁and LBya₂, that is, a detection point of Y head 77 ya is shown byreference code DPya in FIG. 15B.

Similar to Y head 77 ya, Y head 77 yb is placed on a straight line LYbwhich is located the same distance away from center line CL ofmeasurement arm 71A as straight line LYa and is parallel to the Y-axis,and irradiates measurement beams LByb₁ and LByb₂ on a common irradiationpoint DPyb on grating RG from two points (refer to the white circles inFIG. 15B) which are distanced equally from straight line LX. As shown inFIG. 15B, detection points DPya and DPyb of each of the measurementbeams LBya₁ and LBya₂, and measurement beams LByb₁ and LByb₂ are placedon straight line LX which is parallel to the X-axis. Now, in maincontroller 20, the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axisdirection is determined, based on an average of the measurement valuesof the two Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb. Accordingly, in the embodiment, theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axis direction is measuredwith a midpoint of detection points DPya and DPyb serving as asubstantial measurement point. And, the midpoint of detection pointsDPya and DPyb according to Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb coincides withirradiation point DP of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBX2 on grating RG.More specifically, in the embodiment, there is a common detection pointregarding measurement of positional information of fine movement stageWFS1 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and thisdetection point coincides with the exposure position, which is thecenter of irradiation area (exposure area) IA of illumination light ILirradiated on wafer W. Accordingly, in the embodiment, by using encodersystem 73, main controller 20 can constantly perform measurement of thepositional information of fine movement stage WFS1 in the XY plane,directly under (at the back side of fine movement stage WFS1) theexposure position when transferring a pattern of reticle R on apredetermined shot area of wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1.Further, main controller 20 measures a rotational amount of finemovement stage WFS in the θz direction, based on a difference of themeasurement values of the pair of Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb, which areplaced apart in the X-axis direction and measure the position of finemovement stage WFS in the Y-axis direction, respectively.

A configuration of three heads 77 x, 77 ya, and 77 yb which configuresencoder system 73 will now be described. FIG. 16A representatively showsa rough configuration of X head 77 x, which represents three heads 77 x,77 ya, and 77 yb. Further, FIG. 16B shows a placement of each of the Xhead 77 x, and Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb within measurement arm 71A.

As shown in FIG. 16A, X head 77 x is equipped with a polarization beamsplitter PBS whose separation plane is parallel to the YZ plane, a pairof reflection mirrors R1 a and R1 b, lenses L2 a and L2 b, quarterwavelength plates (hereinafter, described as λ/4 plates) WP1 a and WP1b, refection mirrors R2 a and R2 b, and refection mirrors R3 a and R3 band the like, and these optical elements are placed in a predeterminedpositional relation. Y heads 77 ya and 77 yb also have an optical systemwith a similar structure. As shown in FIGS. 16A and 16B, X head 77 x, Yheads 77 ya and 77 yb are unitized and each fixed inside of measurementarm 71A.

As shown in FIG. 16B, in X head 77 x (X linear encoder 73 x), a laserbeam LBx₀ is emitted in the −Z direction from a light source LDxprovided on the upper surface (or above) at the end on the −Y side ofmeasurement arm 71A, and its optical path is bent to become parallelwith the Y-axis direction via a reflection surface RP which is providedon a part of measurement arm 71A inclined at an angle of 45 degrees withrespect to the XY plane. This laser beam LBx₀ travels through the solidsection inside measurement arm 71A in parallel with the longitudinaldirection (the Y-axis direction) of measurement arm 71A, and reachesreflection mirror R3 a shown in FIG. 16A. Then, the optical path oflaser beam LBx₀ is bent by reflection mirror R3 a and is incident onpolarization beam splitter PBS. Laser beam LBx₀ is split by polarizationby polarization beam splitter PBS into two measurement beams LBx₁ andLBx₂. Measurement beam LBx₁ having been transmitted through polarizationbeam splitter PBS reaches grating RG formed on fine movement stage WFS1,via reflection mirror R1 a, and measurement beam LBx₂ reflected offpolarization beam splitter PBS reaches grating RG via reflection mirrorR1 b. Incidentally, “split by polarization” in this case means thesplitting of an incident beam into a P-polarization component and anS-polarization component.

Predetermined-order diffraction beams that are generated from grating RGdue to irradiation of measurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂, such as, forexample, the first-order diffraction beams are severally converted intoa circular polarized light by λ/4 plates WP1 a and WP1 b via lenses L2 aand L2 b, and reflected by reflection mirrors R2 a and R2 b and then thebeams pass through λ/4 plates WP1 a and WP1 b again and reachpolarization beam splitter PBS by tracing the same optical path in thereversed direction.

Each of the polarization directions of the two first-order diffractionbeams that have reached polarization beam splitter PBS is rotated at anangle of 90 degrees with respect to the original direction. Therefore,the first-order diffraction beam of measurement beam LBx₁ having passedthrough polarization beam splitter PBS first, is reflected offpolarization beam splitter PBS. The first-order diffraction beam ofmeasurement beam LBx₂ having been reflected off polarization beamsplitter PBS first, passes through polarization beam splitter PBS.Accordingly, the first-order diffraction beams of each of themeasurement beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ are coaxially synthesized as a syntheticbeam LBx₁₂. Synthetic beam LBx₂ has its optical path bent by reflectionmirror R3 b so it becomes parallel to the Y-axis, travels insidemeasurement arm 71A parallel to the Y-axis, and then is sent to an Xphotodetection system 74 x provided on the upper surface (or above) atthe end on the −Y side of measurement arm 71A shown in FIG. 16B viareflection surface RP previously described.

In X photodetection system 74 x, the polarization direction of thefirst-order diffraction beams of beams LBx₁ and LBx₂ synthesized assynthetic beam LBx₁₂ is arranged by a polarizer (analyzer) (not shown)and the beams overlay each other so as to form an interference light,which is detected by the photodetector and is converted into an electricsignal in accordance with the intensity of the interference light. Whenfine movement stage WFS1 moves in the measurement direction (in thiscase, the X-axis direction) here, a phase difference between the twobeams changes, which changes the intensity of the interference light.This change of the intensity of the interference light is supplied tomain controller 20 (refer to FIG. 3) as positional information relatedto the X-axis direction of fine movement stage WFS1.

As shown in FIG. 16B, laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀, which are emittedfrom light sources LDya and LDyb, respectively, and whose optical pathsare bent by an angle of 90 degrees so as to become parallel to theY-axis by reflection surface RP previously described, are incident on Yheads 77 ya and 77 yb, and similar to the previous description,synthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₂₁ of the first-order diffraction beamsby grating RG (Y diffraction grating) of each of the measurement beamssplit by polarization by the polarization beam splitter are output fromY heads 77 ya and 77 yb, respectively, and return to Y photodetectionsystems 74 ya and 74 yb. Now, laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀ emitted fromlight sources LDya and LDyb, and synthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₁₂returning to Y photodetection systems 74 ya and 74 yb, each pass anoptical path which are overlaid in a direction perpendicular to the pagesurface of FIG. 16B. Further, as described above, in Y heads 77 ya and77 yb, optical paths are appropriately bent (omitted in drawings) insideso that laser beams LBya₀ and LByb₀ irradiated from the light source andsynthetic beams LBya₁₂ and LByb₁₂ returning to Y photodetection systems74 ya and 74 yb pass optical paths which are parallel and distancedapart in the Z-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 15A, laser interferometer system 75 makes threemeasurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃ enter the lower surface of finemovement stage WFS1 from the tip of measurement arm 71A. Laserinterferometer system 75 is equipped with three laser interferometers 75a to 75 c (refer to FIG. 3) that irradiate three measurement beams LBz₁,LBz₂, and LBz₃, respectively.

In laser interferometer system 75, three measurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂,and LBz₃ are emitted in parallel with the Z-axis from each of the threepoints that are not collinear on the upper surface of measurement arm71A, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B. Now, as shown in FIG. 15B, threemeasurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃ are each irradiated frompositions which are the apexes of an isosceles triangle (or anequilateral triangle) whose centroid coincides with the exposure areawhich is the center of irradiation area (exposure area) IA. In thiscase, the outgoing point (irradiation point) of measurement beam LBz₃ islocated on center line CL, and the outgoing points (irradiation points)of the remaining measurement beams LBz₁ and LBz₂ are equidistant fromcenter line CL. In the embodiment, main controller 20 measures theposition in the Z-axis direction, the rotational amount in the θxdirection and the θy direction of fine movement stage WFS1, using laserinterferometer system 75. Incidentally, laser interferometers 75 a to 75c are provided on the upper surface (or above) at the end on the −Y sideof measurement arm 71A. Measurement beams LBz₁, LBz₂, and LBz₃ emittedin the −Z direction from laser interferometers 75 a to 75 c travelwithin measurement arm 71A along the Y-axis direction via reflectionsurface RP1 previously described, and each of their optical paths isbent so that the beams are emitted from the three points describedabove.

In the embodiment, on the lower surface of fine movement stage WFS1, awavelength selection filter (omitted in drawings) which transmits eachmeasurement beam from encoder system 73 and blocks the transmission ofeach measurement beam from laser interferometer system 75 is provided.In this case, the wavelength selection filter also serves as areflection surface of each of the measurement beams from laserinterferometer system 75. As the wavelength selection filter, a thinfilm and the like having wavelength-selectivity is used, and in theembodiment, the filter is provided, for example, on one surface of thetransparent plate (main body section 81), and grating RG is placed onthe wafer holder side with respect to the one surface.

As it can be seen from the description so far, main controller 20 canmeasure the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in directions of sixdegrees of freedom by using encoder system 73 and laser interferometersystem 75 of fine movement stage position measurement system 70A. Inthis case, since the optical path lengths of the measurement beams areextremely short and also are almost equal to each other in encodersystem 73, the influence of air fluctuation can mostly be ignored.Accordingly, by encoder system 73, positional information (including theθz direction) of fine movement stage WFS1 within the XY plane can bemeasured with high accuracy. Further, because the substantial detectionpoints on the grating in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis directionby encoder system 73 and detection points on the lower surface of finemovement stage WFS lower surface in the Z-axis direction by laserinterferometer system 75 coincide with the center (exposure position) ofexposure area IA, respectively, generation of the so-called Abbe erroris suppressed to a substantially ignorable degree. Accordingly, by usingfine movement stage position measurement system 70A, main controller 20can measure the position of fine movement stage WFS1 in the X-axisdirection, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction with highprecision, without any Abbe errors. Further, in the case coarse movementstage WCS1 is below projection unit PU and fine movement stage WFS2 ismovably supported by coarse movement stage WCS1, by using fine movementstage position measurement system 70A, main controller 20 can measurethe position in directions of six degrees of freedom of fine movementstage WFS2 and especially the position of fine movement stage WFS2 inthe X-axis direction, the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction canbe measured with high precision, without any Abbe errors.

Further, fine movement stage position measurement system 70B whichmeasurement station 300 is equipped with, is configured similar to finemovement stage position measurement system 70A, but in a symmetricmanner, as shown in FIG. 1. Accordingly, measurement arm 71B which finemovement stage position measurement system 70B is equipped with has alongitudinal direction in the Y-axis direction, and the vicinity of theend on the +Y side is supported almost cantilevered from main frame BD,via support member 72B.

In the case coarse movement stage WCS2 is below aligner 99 and finemovement stage WFS2 or WFS is movably supported by coarse movement stageWCS2, by using fine movement stage position measurement system 70B, maincontroller 20 can measure the position in directions of six degrees offreedom of fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) and especially theposition of fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) in the X-axis direction,the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction can be measured with highprecision, without any Abbe errors.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment structured in the mannerdescribed above, when manufacturing a device, exposure by thestep-and-scan method is performed on wafer W held by one of the finemovement stages (in this case, WFS1, as an example) held by coarsemovement stage WCS1 located in exposure station 200, and a pattern ofreticle R is transferred on each of a plurality of shot areas on waferW. The exposure operation by this step- and scan method is performed bymain controller 20, by repeating a movement operation between shots inwhich wafer stage WST1 is moved to a scanning starting position (anacceleration starting position) for exposure of each shot area on waferW, and a scanning exposure operation in which a pattern formed onreticle R is transferred onto each of the shot areas by the scanningexposure method, based on results of wafer alignment (for example,information on array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W obtainedby enhanced global alignment (EGA) that has been converted into acoordinate which uses the second fiducial marks as a reference) that hasbeen performed beforehand, and results of reticle alignment and thelike. Incidentally, the exposure operation described above is performed,in a state where liquid Lq is held in a space between tip lens 191 andwafer W, or more specifically, by liquid immersion exposure. Further,exposure is performed in the following order, from the shot area locatedon the +Y side on wafer W to the shot area located on the −Y side.Incidentally, details on EGA are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat.No. 4,780,617 and the like.

In exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, during the series ofexposure operations described above, main controller 20 measures theposition of fine movement stage WFS1 (wafer W) using fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A, and the position of wafer W iscontrolled based on the measurement results.

Incidentally, while wafer W has to be driven with high acceleration inthe Y-axis direction at the time of scanning exposure operationdescribed above, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, maincontroller 20 scans wafer W in the Y-axis direction by driving (refer tothe black arrow in FIG. 17A) only fine movement stage WFS1 in the Y-axisdirection (and in directions of the other five degrees of freedom, ifnecessary), without driving coarse movement stage WCS1 in principle atthe time of scanning exposure operation as shown in FIG. 17A. This isbecause when moving only fine movement stage WFS1, weight of the driveobject is lighter when comparing with the case where coarse movementstage WCS1 is driven, which allows an advantage of being able to drivewafer W with high acceleration. Further, because position measuringaccuracy of fine movement stage position measurement system 70A ishigher than wafer stage position measurement system 16A as previouslydescribed, it is advantageous to drive fine movement stage WFS1 at thetime of scanning exposure. Incidentally, at the time of this scanningexposure, coarse movement stage WCS1 is driven to the opposite side offine movement stage WFS1 by an operation of a reaction force (refer tothe outlined arrow in FIG. 17A) by the drive of fine movement stageWFS1. More specifically, because coarse movement stage WCS1 functions asa countermass, momentum of the system consisting of the entire waferstage WST1 is conserved, and centroid shift does not occur,inconveniences such as unbalanced load acting on base board 12 by thescanning drive of fine movement stage WFS1 do not occur.

Meanwhile, when movement (stepping) operation between shots in theX-axis direction is performed, because movement capacity in the X-axisdirection of fine movement stage WFS1 is small, main controller 20 moveswafer W in the X-axis direction by driving coarse movement stage WCS1 inthe X-axis direction as shown in FIG. 17B.

In parallel with exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS1described above, wafer exchange, wafer alignment, and the like areperformed on the other fine movement stage WFS2. Wafer exchange isperformed, by unloading wafer W which has been exposed from above finemovement stage WFS2 by a wafer carrier system (not shown), as well asloading a new wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 when coarse movementstage WCS2 supporting fine movement stage WFS2 is at measurement station300 or at a predetermined wafer exchange position in the vicinity ofmeasurement station 300. Here, at the wafer exchange position, adecompression chamber (decompressed space) formed by a wafer holder(omitted in drawings) of fine movement stage WFS2 and the back surfaceof wafer W is connected to a vacuum pump via an exhaust pipe line (notshown) and piping, and by main controller 20 making the vacuum pumpoperate, gas inside the decompression chamber is exhausted outside viathe exhaust pipe line and the piping, which creates a negative pressurewithin the decompression chamber and starts the suction of wafer W bythe wafer holder. And when the inside of the decompression chamberreaches a predetermined pressure (negative pressure), main controller 20suspends the vacuum pump. When the vacuum pump is suspended, the exhaustpipe line is closed by an action of a check valve (not shown).Accordingly, the decompressed state of the decompression chamber ismaintained, and wafer W is held by the wafer holder even if tubes andthe like used to suction the gas in the decompression chamber by vacuumare not connected to fine movement stage WFS2. This allows fine movementstage WFS2 to be separated from the coarse movement stage and to becarried without any problems.

On wafer alignment, first of all, main controller 20 drives finemovement stage WFS2 so as to position measurement plate 86 on finemovement stage WFS2 right under primary alignment system AL1, anddetects the second fiducial mark using primary alignment system AL1.Then, as disclosed in, for example, PCT International Publication No.2007/097379 (the corresponding U.S. Patent Application Publication No.2008/0088843) and the like, for example, main controller 20 can movewafer stage WST2 in the −Y direction and position wafer stage WST at aplurality of points on the movement path, and each time the position isset, measures (obtains) positional information of the alignment marks inthe alignment shot area (sample shot area), using at least one ofalignment systems AL1, AL2 ₂, and AL2 ₃. For example, in the case ofconsidering a case where positioning is performed four times, maincontroller 20, for example, uses primary alignment system AL1 andsecondary alignment systems AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃ at the time of the firstpositioning to detect alignment marks (hereinafter also referred to assample marks) in three sample shot areas, uses alignment systems AL1,and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ at the time of the second positioning to detect fivesample marks on wafer W, uses alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄at the time of the third positioning to detect five sample marks, anduses primary alignment system AL1, and secondary alignment systems AL2 ₂and AL2 ₃ at the time of the fourth positioning to detect three samplemarks, respectively. Accordingly, positional information of alignmentmarks in a total of 16 alignment shot areas can be obtained in aremarkably shorter period of time, compared with the case where the 16alignment marks are sequentially measured with a single alignmentsystem. In this case, each of alignment systems AL1, AL2 ₂ and AL2 ₃detects a plurality of alignment marks (sample marks) arrayed along theY-axis direction that are sequentially placed within the detection area(e.g., corresponding to the irradiation area of the detection light),corresponding with the movement operation of wafer stage WST2 describedabove. Therefore, on the measurement of the alignment marks describedabove, it is not necessary to move wafer stage WST2 in the X-axisdirection.

In the embodiment, main controller 20 performs position measurementincluding the detection of the second fiducial marks, and in the case ofthe wafer alignment, performs position measurement of fine movementstage WFS2 in the XY plane supported by coarse movement stage WCS2 atthe time of the wafer alignment, using fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70B including measurement arm 71B. However, besidesthis, wafer alignment can be performed while measuring the position ofwafer W via wafer stage position measurement system 16B previouslydescribed, in the case of performing the movement of fine movement stageWFS2 at the time of wafer alignment integrally with coarse movementstage WCS2. Further, because measurement station 300 and exposurestation 200 are arranged apart, the position of fine movement stage WFS2is controlled on different coordinate systems at the time of waferalignment and at the time of exposure. Therefore, main controller 20converts array coordinates of each shot area on wafer W acquired fromthe wafer alignment into array coordinates which are based on the secondfiducial marks.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS2 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS1 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued. FIG. 18A shows a positional relation of coarse movementstages WCS1, WCS2 and relay stage DRST at the stage when wafer alignmentto wafer W has been completed.

Main controller 20 drives wafer stage WST2 by a predetermined distancein the −Y direction via coarse movement stage drive system 51B, as shownin an outlined arrow in FIG. 18B, and makes wafer stage WST2 be incontact or be in proximity by around 500 μm to relay stage DRST which isstanding still at a predetermined waiting position (substantiallycoincides with a center position between an optical axis AX ofprojection optical system PL and a detection center of primary alignmentsystem AL1).

Next, main controller 20 controls the current flowing in Y drive coilsof fine movement stage drive systems 52B and 52C so as to drive finemovement stage WFS2 in the −Y direction by a Lorentz force, as is shownby the black arrow in FIG. 18C, and moves fine movement stage WFS2 fromcoarse movement stage WCS2 onto relay stage DRST. FIG. 18D shows a statewhere fine movement stage WFS2 has been moved and mounted on relay stageDRST.

Main controller 20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movementstage WFS1 to be completed, in a state where relay stage DRST and coarsemovement stage WCS2 are waiting at a position shown in FIG. 18D.

FIG. 20 shows a state of wafer stage WST1 immediately after completingthe exposure.

Prior to the completion of exposure, main controller 20 drives auxiliarystage AST (blade BL) in the +X direction by a predetermined amount fromthe waiting position shown in FIG. 19 via auxiliary stage drive system58 (refer to FIG. 3) as is shown by an outlined arrow in FIG. 24A. Thispositions the tip of blade BL above measurement arm 71A, as shown inFIG. 24A. Then, main controller 20 waits for the exposure to becompleted in this state.

Then, when exposure has been completed, main controller 20 drivesauxiliary stage AST (blade BL) in the +X direction and the +Y directionvia auxiliary stage drive system 58, so as to make blade BL be incontact or in proximity in the Y-axis direction by a clearance of around300 μm to fine movement stage WFS1, as shown in FIGS. 20 and 24B. Morespecifically, main controller 20 begins to set blade BL and finemovement stage WFS1 to a serum state. Then, main controller 20 drivesauxiliary stage AST (blade BL), furthermore, in the +X direction. Then,when the center of the protruding part of blade BL coincides with thecenter of measurement arm 71A, auxiliary stage AST (blade BL) is driven(refer to the outlined arrow in FIGS. 21 and 25) in the +Y directionintegrally with wafer stage WST1, while the serum state of blade BL andfine movement stage WFS1 is maintained, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 25. Bythis operation, the liquid immersion space formed by liquid Lq heldbetween tip lens 191 and fine movement stage WFS1 is passed from finemovement stage WFS1 to blade BL. FIG. 21 shows a state just before theliquid immersion space formed by liquid Lq is passed from fine movementstage WFS1 to blade BL. In the state shown in FIG. 21, liquid Lq is heldbetween tip lens 191, and fine movement stage WFS1 and blade BL.Incidentally, in the case of driving blade BL and fine movement stageWFS1 in proximity, it is desirable to set a gap (clearance) betweenblade BL and fine movement stage WFS so as to prevent or to suppressleakage of liquid Lq. In this case, in proximity includes the case wherethe gap (clearance) between blade BL and fine movement stage WFS1 iszero, or in other words, the case when both blade BL and fine movementstage WFS1 are in contact.

Then, when the liquid immersion space has been passed from fine movementstage WFS1 to blade BL, as shown in FIG. 22, coarse movement stage WCS1holding fine movement stage WFS1 comes into contact or in proximity by aclearance of around 300 μm to relay stage DRST waiting in a proximitystate with coarse movement stage WCS2, holding fine movement stage WFS2at the waiting position previously described. During the stage wherecoarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movement stage WFS1 moves in the+Y direction, main controller 20 inserts carrier member 48 of carrierapparatus 46 into the space of coarse movement stage WCS1, via carriermember drive system 54.

And, at the point when coarse movement stage WCS1 holding fine movementstage WFS1 comes into contact or in proximity to relay stage DRST, maincontroller 20 drives carrier member 48 upward so that fine movementstage WFS1 is supported from below.

And, in this state, main controller 20 releases the lock mechanism (notshown), and separates coarse movement stage WCS1 into the first sectionWCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b. By this operation, fine movementstage WFS1 is detachable from coarse movement stage WCS1. Then, maincontroller 20 drives carrier member 48 supporting fine movement stageWFS1 downward, as is shown by the outlined arrow in FIG. 23A.

And then, main controller 20 locks the lock mechanism (not shown) afterthe first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b are joinedtogether.

Next, main controller 20 moves carrier member 48 which supports finemovement stage WFS1 from below to the inside of stage main section 44 ofrelay stage DRST. FIG. 23B shows the state where carrier member 48 isbeing moved. Further, concurrently with the movement of carrier member48, main controller 20 controls the current flowing in Y drive coils offine movement stage drive systems 52C and 52A, and drives fine movementstage WFS2 in the −Y direction as is shown by the black arrow in FIG.23B by a Lorentz force, and moves (a slide movement) fine movement stageWFS2 from relay stage DRST onto coarse movement stage WCS1.

Further, after housing the carrier member main section of carrier member48 into the space of relay stage DRST so that fine movement stage WFS1is completely housed in the space of relay stage DRST, main controller20 moves the movable member holding fine movement stage WFS1 in the +Ydirection on the carrier member main section (refer to the outlinedarrow in FIG. 23C).

Next, main controller 20 makes coarse movement stage WCS1 which holdsfine movement stage WFS2 move in the −Y direction, and delivers theliquid immersion space held with tip lens 191 from blade BL to finemovement stage WFS2. The delivery of this liquid immersion space (liquidLq) is performed by reversing the procedure of the delivery of theliquid immersion space from fine movement stage WFS1 to blade BLpreviously described.

Then, prior to the beginning of exposure, main controller 20 performsreticle alignment in a procedure (a procedure disclosed in, for example,U.S. Pat. No. 5,646,413 and the like) similar to a normal scanningstepper, using the pair of reticle alignment systems RA1 and RA2previously described, and the pair of first fiducial marks onmeasurement plate 86 of fine movement stage WFS and the like. FIG. 23Dshows fine movement stage WFS2 during reticle alignment, along withcoarse movement stage WCS1 holding the fine movement stage. Then, maincontroller 20 performs exposure operation by the step-and-scan method,based on results of the reticle alignment and the results of the waferalignment (array coordinates which uses the second fiducial marks ofeach of the shot areas on wafer W), and transfers the pattern of reticleR on each of the plurality of shot areas on wafer W. As is obvious fromFIGS. 23E and 23F, in this exposure, fine movement stage WFS2 isreturned to the −Y side after reticle alignment, and then exposure isperformed in the order from shot areas on the +Y side on wafer W to theshot areas on the −Y side.

Concurrently with the delivery of the liquid immersion space, reticlealignment, and exposure described above, the following operations areperformed.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 23D, main controller 20 movescarrier member 48 holding fine movement stage WFS1 into the space ofcoarse movement stage WCS2. At this point, with the movement of carriermember 48, main controller 20 moves the movable member holding finemovement stage WFS1 on the carrier member main section in the +Ydirection.

Next, main controller 20 releases the lock mechanism (not shown), andseparates coarse movement stage WCS2 into the first section WCS2 a andthe second section WCS2 b, and also drives carrier member 48 holdingfine movement stage WFS1 upward as is shown by the outlined arrow inFIG. 23E so that the pair of mover sections equipped in fine movementstage WFS1 are positioned at a height where the pair of mover sectionsare engageable with the pair of stator sections of coarse movement stageWCS2.

And then, main controller 20 brings together the first section WCS2 aand the second section WCS2 b of coarse movement stage WCS2. By this,fine movement stage WFS1 holding wafer W which has been exposed issupported by coarse movement stage WCS2. Therefore, main controller 20locks the lock mechanism (not shown).

Next, main controller 20 drives coarse movement stage WCS2 supportingfine movement stage WFS1 in the +Y direction as shown by the outlinedarrow in FIG. 23F, and moves coarse movement stage WCS2 to measurementstation 300.

Then, by main controller 20, on fine movement stage WFS1, waferexchange, detection of the second fiducial marks, wafer alignment andthe like are performed, in procedures similar to the ones previouslydescribed. Also in this case, at the wafer exchange position, gas withinthe decompression chamber formed by the wafer holder (omitted indrawings) of fine movement stage WFS1 and the back surface of wafer W isexhausted outside by the vacuum pump, which creates a negative pressurewithin the decompression chamber and wafer W is suctioned by the waferholder. And, by an action of a check valve (not shown), the decompressedstate of the decompression chamber is maintained, and wafer W is held bythe wafer holder even if tubes and the like used to suction the gas inthe decompression chamber by vacuum are not connected to fine movementstage WFS1. This allows fine movement stage WFS1 to be separated fromthe coarse movement stage and to be carried without any problems.

Then, main controller 20 converts array coordinates of each shot area onwafer W acquired from the wafer alignment into array coordinates whichare based on the second fiducial marks. In this case as well, positionmeasurement of fine movement stage WFS1 on alignment is performed, usingfine movement stage position measurement system 70B.

While wafer alignment to wafer W held by fine movement stage WFS1 iscompleted in the manner described above, exposure of wafer W which isheld by fine movement stage WFS2 in exposure station 200 is still beingcontinued.

Then, in a manner similar to the previous description, main controller20 moves fine movement stage WFS1 to relay stage DRST. Main controller20 waits for the exposure to wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 to becompleted, in a state where relay stage DRST and coarse movement stageWCS2 are waiting at the waiting position previously described.

Hereinafter, a similar processing is repeatedly performed, alternatelyusing fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2, and an exposure processing toa plurality of wafer Ws is continuously performed.

As described in detail above, according to exposure apparatus 100 of theembodiment, when fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) holds liquid Lqbetween tip lens 191 (projection optical system PL), blade BL (auxiliarystage AST) moves into a scrum state where blade BL is in contact or inproximity via a clearance of around 300 μm with fine movement stage WFS1(or WFS2) in the Y-axis direction, and moves along in the Y-axisdirection with fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) while maintaining thescrum state from the fixed end side to the free end side of measurementarm 71A, and then holds liquid Lq with tip lens 191 (projection opticalsystem PL) after this movement. Therefore, it becomes possible todeliver liquid Lq (the liquid immersion space formed by liquid Lq) heldwith tip lens 191 (projection optical system PL) from fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2) to blade BL, without measurement arm 71A disturbingthe delivery. Accordingly, a plurality of stages will not have to beplaced right under the projection optical system interchangeably, whichmakes it possible to suppress an increase in footprint of the exposureapparatus.

Further, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, when thefirst section WCS1 a and the second section WCS1 b of coarse movementstage WCS1 are each driven by main controller 20 via coarse movementstage drive system 51A, and the first section WCS1 a and the secondsection WCS1 b are separated, fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) held bycoarse movement stage WCS1 before the separation can easily be detachedfrom coarse movement stage WCS1, while still holding wafer W which hasbeen exposed. That is, wafer W can be detached easily from coarsemovement stage WCS1, integrally with fine movement stage WFS1.

In this case, in the embodiment, because coarse movement stage WCS1 isseparated into the first section WCS1 a and the second section WCS b andfine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) holding wafer W which has beenexposed is easily detached from coarse movement stage WCS1, after movingfine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) integrally with coarse movement stageWCS1 in a direction (the +Y direction) from a fixed end to a free end ofmeasurement arm 71A which is supported in a cantilevered state with thetip inside the space within coarse movement stage WCS1, fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2) holding wafer W which has been exposed can bedetached from coarse movement stage WCS1 without measurement arm 71Ainterfering the detachment.

Further, after fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) holding wafer W whichhas been exposed is detached from coarse movement stage WCS1, coarsemovement stage WCS1 is made to hold another fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1) which holds wafer W which has not yet undergone exposure.Accordingly, it becomes possible to detach fine movement stage WFS1 (orWFS2) holding wafer W which has been exposed from coarse movement stageWCS1, or to make coarse movement stage WCS1 hold another fine movementstage WFS2 (or WFS1) holding wafer W which has not yet undergoneexposure, in a state each holding wafer W.

Further, main controller 20 drives carrier member 48 via carrier memberdrive system 54, and fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2), which stillholds wafer W which has been exposed and has been detached from coarsemovement stage WCS1, is housed in the space inside of relay stage DRST.

Further, main controller 20 drives carrier member 48 via carrier memberdrive system 54 so that the position of fine movement stage WFS1 (orWFS2) holding wafer W which has been exposed is set to a predeterminedheight, in a state where the first section of WCS2 a and the secondsection WCS2 b of coarse movement stage WCS2 are separated via coarsemovement stage drive system 51B. And, by the first section of WCS2 abeing integrated with the second section WCS2 b of coarse movement stageWCS2 via coarse movement stage drive system 51B by main controller 20,fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) holding wafer W which has beenexposed can be delivered from relay stage DRST to coarse movement stageWCS2.

Furthermore, main controller 20 moves and mounts fine movement stageWFS2 (or WFS1) holding wafer W which has not yet undergone exposure fromcoarse movement stage WCS2 to relay stage DRST, via fine movement stagedrive systems 52B and 52C, and then further from relay stage DRST tocoarse movement stage WCS1, via fine movement stage drive systems 52Cand 52A.

Therefore, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, waferW can be delivered between the three, which are coarse movement stageWCS1, relay stage DRST, and coarse movement stage WCS2, integrally withfine movement stage WFS1 or WFS2, even if the size of wafer W increases,without any problems in particular.

Further, in exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, in exposurestation 200, wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) heldrelatively movable by coarse movement stage WCS1 is exposed withexposure light IL, via reticle R and projection optical system PL. Indoing so, positional information in the XY plane of fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) held movable by coarse movement stage WCS1 is measured bymain controller 20, using encoder system 73 of fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A which has measurement arm 71A which isplaced facing grating RG placed at fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2).In this case, because space is formed inside coarse movement stage WCS1and each of the heads of fine movement stage position measurement system70A are placed in this space, there is only space between fine movementstage WFS1 (or WFS2) and each of the heads of fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A. Accordingly, each of the heads can bearranged in proximity to fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) (gratingRG), which allows a highly precise measurement of the positionalinformation of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) by fine movement stageposition measurement system 70A. Further, as a consequence, a highlyprecise drive of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) via coarse movementstage drive system 51A and/or fine movement stage drive system 52A bymain controller 20 becomes possible.

Further, in this case, irradiation points of the measurement beams ofeach of the heads of encoder system 73 and laser interferometer system75 configuring fine movement stage position measurement system 70Aemitted from measurement arm 71A on grating RG coincide with the center(exposure position) of irradiation area (exposure area) IA of exposurelight IL irradiated on wafer W. Accordingly, main controller 20 canmeasure the positional information of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2)with high accuracy, without being affected by so-called Abbe error.Further, because optical path lengths in the atmosphere of themeasurement beams of each of the heads of encoder system 73 can be madeextremely short by placing measurement arm 71A right under grating RG,the influence of air fluctuation is reduced, and also in this point, thepositional information of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) can bemeasured with high accuracy.

Further, in the embodiment, fine movement stage position measurementsystem 70B configured symmetric to fine movement stage positionmeasurement system 70A is provided in measurement station 300. And inmeasurement station 300, when wafer alignment to wafer W on finemovement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) held by coarse movement stage WCS2 isperformed by alignment systems AL1, and AL2 ₁ to AL2 ₄ and the like,positional information in the XY plane of fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1) supported movable on coarse movement stage WCS2 is measured byfine movement stage position measurement system 70B with high precision.As a consequence, a highly precise drive of fine movement stage WFS2 (orWFS1) via coarse movement stage drive system 51B and/or fine movementstage drive system 52B by main controller 20 becomes possible.

Further, in the embodiment, because the free end and the fixed end ineach of the arms are set in opposite directions in measurement arm 71Aat the exposure station 200 side and measurement arm 71B at themeasurement station 300 side, coarse movement stage WCS1 can approachmeasurement station 300 (to be more precise, relay stage DRST) andcoarse movement stage WCS2 can also approach exposure station 200 (to bemore precise, relay stage DRST), without being disturbed by measurementarms 71A and 71B.

Further, according to the embodiment, the delivery of fine movementstage WFS2 (or WFS1) holding the wafer which has not yet undergoneexposure from coarse movement stage WCS2 to relay stage DRST, and thedelivery from relay stage DRST to coarse movement stage WCS1 areperformed, by making fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) perform a slidemovement along an upper surface (a surface (a first surface) parallel tothe XY plane including the pair of stator sections 93 a and 93 b) ofcoarse movement stage WCS2, relay stage DRST, and coarse movement stageWCS1. Further, the delivery of fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2)holding the wafer which has been exposed from coarse movement stage WCS1to relay stage DRST, and the delivery from relay stage DRST to coarsemovement stage WCS1 are performed, by making fine movement stage WFS1(or WFS2) move within the space inside coarse movement stage WCS1, relaystage DRST, and coarse movement stage WCS2, which are positioned on the−Z side of the first surface. Accordingly, the delivery of the waferbetween coarse movement stage WCS1 and relay stage DRST, and coarsemovement stage WCS2 and relay stage DRST, can be realized by suppressingan increase in the footprint of the apparatus as much as possible.

Further, in the embodiment above, although relay stage DRST isconfigured movable within the XY plane, as is obvious from thedescription on the series of parallel processing operations previouslydescribed, in the actual sequence, relay stage DRST remains waiting atthe waiting position previously described. On this point as well, anincrease in the footprint of the apparatus is suppressed.

Further, according to exposure apparatus 100 of the embodiment, becausefine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) can be driven with good precision, itbecomes possible to drive wafer W mounted on this fine movement stageWFS1 (or WFS2) in synchronization with reticle stage RST (reticle R)with good precision, and to transfer a pattern of reticle R onto wafer Wby scanning exposure. Further, in exposure apparatus 100 of theembodiment, because wafer exchange, alignment measurement and the likeof wafer W on fine movement stage WFS2 (or WFS1) can be performed inmeasurement station 300, concurrently with the exposure operationperformed on wafer W mounted on fine movement stage WFS1 (or WFS2) inexposure station 200, throughput can be improved when compared with thecase where each processing of wafer exchange, alignment measurement, andexposure is sequentially performed.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, fine movement stage WFS1 holdingwafer W which has been exposed was delivered first to carrier member 48of relay stage DRST, and then fine movement stage WFS2 held by relaystage DRST was slid afterwards to be held by coarse movement stage WCS1,using FIGS. 23A to 23C. However, besides this, fine movement stage WFS2can be delivered to carrier member 48 of relay stage DRST first, andthen fine movement stage WFS1 held by coarse movement stage WCS1 can beslid afterwards to be held by relay stage DRST.

Further, in the embodiment above, while the gap (clearance) betweenrelay stage DRST and coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 was set toaround 300 μm in the case of making coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2proximal to relay stage DRST, respectively to replace fine movementstages WFS1 and WFS2, this gap does not necessarily have to be set smallas in the case, for example, such as when movable blade BL and finemovement stage WFS1 are driven in proximity. In this case, relay stageDRST and coarse movement stage can be distanced within a range wherefine movement stage is not tilted greatly (that is, the stator and themover of the linear motor do not come into contact) at the time ofmovement of the fine movement stage between relay stage DRST and thecoarse movement stage. In other words, the gap between relay stage DRSTand coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 is not limited to around 300μm, and can be made extremely large.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere blade BL (movable member) was provided in auxiliary stage ASTwhich moves within an XY plane, the present invention is not limited tothis. That is, any configuration can be employed as long as when aholding member (in the embodiment above, the fine movement stage isequivalent) holds liquid Lq with an optical member (in the embodimentabove, tip lens 191 is equivalent), a movable member can approach(including the case of being in contact) the holding member within apredetermined distance (e.g., 300 μm) in the Y-axis direction, and canmove along in the Y-axis direction (from the fixed end side to the freeend side of measurement arm 71A in the embodiment above) along with theholding member while maintaining the proximity state (the scrum statepreviously described), and then can hold liquid Lq with the opticalmember after the movement. Accordingly, the movable member can be amovable blade which is driven by a robot arm, or other drive devices.

Further, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 were separable into the firstsection and the second section as well as the first section and thesecond section being engageable, besides this, the first section and thesecond section may have any type of arrangement, even when the firstsection and the second section are physically constantly apart, as longas they are reciprocally approachable and dividable, and on separation,a holding member (the fine movement stage in the embodiment above) isdetachable, whereas when the distance is closed, the holding member issupportable.

Further, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere the apparatus is equipped with relay stage DRST, in addition tocoarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, relay stage DRST does notnecessarily have to be provided. In this case, for example, the finemovement stage can be delivered between coarse movement stage WCS2 andcoarse movement stage WCS1 directly, or, for example, the fine movementstage can be delivered to coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2, using arobot arm and the like. In the former case, for example, a carriermechanism, which delivers the fine movement stage to coarse movementstage WCS1 and then receives the fine movement stage and delivers thefine movement stage to an external carrier system (not shown) fromcoarse movement stage WCS1, can be provided in coarse movement stageWCS2. In this case, the external carrier system can attach the finemovement stage holding the wafer to coarse movement stage WCS2. In thelatter case, the fine movement stage which one of the coarse movementstage WCS1 and WCS2 supports is delivered to a support device, while thefine movement stage which the other coarse movement stage supports isdelivered to the one coarse movement stage directly, and then finally,the fine movement stage supported by the support device is delivered tothe other coarse movement stage. In this case, as a support device,besides a robot arm, a vertically movable table can be used, which fitsinside of base board 12 at normal times so as not to project above fromthe floor surface, and moves upward to support the fine movement stagewhen coarse movement stages WCS1 and WCS2 are separated into twosections, and then moves downward while still supporting the finemovement stage. Alternatively, in the case a narrow notch is formed inthe Y-axis direction in coarse movement slider section 91 of coarsemovement stages WCS1 and WCS2, a table whose shaft section protrudesfrom the floor surface and is vertically movable can be used. In anycase, the support device can have any structure as long as the sectionsupporting the fine movement stage is movable at least in one direction,and does not interfere when the fine movement stage is delivereddirectly between coarse movement stages WCS and WCS2 in a statesupporting the fine movement stage. In any case, in the case the relaystage is not arranged, this allows the footprint of the apparatus to bereduced.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere fine movement stage position measurement systems 70A and 70B aremade entirely of, for example, glass, and are equipped with measurementarms 71A and 71B in which light can proceed inside, the presentinvention is not limited to this. For example, at least only the partwhere each of the laser beams previously described proceed in themeasurement arm has to be made of a solid member which can pass throughlight, and the other sections, for example, can be a member that doesnot transmit light, and can have a hollow structure. Further, as ameasurement arm, for example, a light source or a photodetector can bebuilt in the tip of the measurement arm, as long as a measurement beamcan be irradiated from the section facing the grating. In this case, themeasurement beam of the encoder does not have to proceed inside themeasurement arm.

Further, in the measurement arm, the part (beam optical path segment)where each laser beam proceeds can be hollow. Or, in the case ofemploying a grating interference type encoder system as the encodersystem, the optical member on which the diffraction grating is formedonly has to be provided on an arm that has low thermal expansion, suchas for example, ceramics, Invar and the like. This is because especiallyin an encoder system, the space where the beam separates is extremelynarrow (short) so that the system is not affected by air fluctuation asmuch as possible. Furthermore, in this case, the temperature can bestabilized by supplying gas whose temperature has been controlled to thespace between fine movement stage (wafer holder) and the measurement arm(and beam optical path). Furthermore, the measurement arm need not haveany particular shape.

Incidentally, in the embodiment, because measurement arms 71A and 71Bare fixed to main frame BD integrally, torsion and the like may occurdue to internal stress (including thermal stress) in measurement arms71A and 71B, which may change the relative position between measurementarms 71A and 71B, and main frame BD. Therefore, as countermeasuresagainst such cases, the position of measurement arms 71A and 71B (achange in a relative position with respect to main frame BD, or a changeof position with respect to a reference position) can be measured, andthe position of measurement arms 71A and 71B can be finely adjusted, orthe measurement results corrected, with actuators and the like.

Further, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere measurement arms 71A and 71B are integral with main frame BD, aswell as this, measurement arms 71A and 71B and mainframe BD may beseparated. In this case, a measurement device (for example, an encoderand/or an interferometer) which measures a position (or displacement) ofmeasurement arms 71A and 71B with respect to main frame BD (or areference position), and an actuator and the like to adjust a positionof measurement arms 71A and 71B can be provided, and main controller 20as well as other controllers can maintain a positional relation betweenmain frame BD (and projection optical system PL) and measurement arms71A and 71B at a predetermined relation (for example, constant), basedon measurement results of the measurement device.

Further, a measurement system (sensor), a temperature sensor, a pressuresensor, an acceleration sensor for vibration measurement and the likecan be provided in measurement arms 71A and 71B, so as to measure avariation in measurement arms 71A and 71B by an optical technique. Or, adistortion sensor (strain gauge) or a displacement sensor can beprovided, so as to measure a variation in measurement arms 71A and 71B.And, by using the values obtained by these sensors, positionalinformation obtained by fine movement stage position measurement system70A and/or wafer stage position measurement system 68A, or fine movementstage position measurement system 70B and/or wafer stage positionmeasurement system 68B can be corrected.

Further, in the embodiment above, while the case has been describedwhere measurement arm 71A (or 71B) is supported in a cantilevered statevia one support member 72A (or 72B) from mainframe BD, as well as this,for example, measurement arm 71A (or 71B) can be supported by suspensionfrom main frame BD via a U-shaped suspension section, including twosuspension members which are arranged apart in the X-axis direction. Inthis case, it is desirable to set the distance between the twosuspension members so that the fine movement stage can move in betweenthe two suspension members.

Further, in the embodiment above, while an example has been shown whereencoder system 73 is equipped with an X head and a pair of Y heads,besides this, for example, one or two two-dimensional heads (2D heads)whose measurement directions are in two directions, which are the X-axisdirection and the Y-axis direction, can be provided. In the case two 2Dheads are provided, detection points of the two heads can be arranged tobe two points which are spaced equally apart in the X-axis direction onthe grating, with the exposure position serving as the center.

Incidentally, fine movement stage position measurement system 70A canmeasure positional information in directions of six degrees of freedomof the fine movement stage only by using encoder system 73, withoutbeing equipped with laser interferometer system 75. Besides this, anencoder which can measure positional information in at least one of theX-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the Z-axis direction canalso be used. For example, by irradiating measurement beams from a totalof three encoders including an encoder which can measure positionalinformation in the X-axis direction and the Z-axis direction and anencoder which can measure positional information in the Y-axis directionand the Z-axis direction, on three measurement points that arenoncollinear, and receiving the return lights, positional information ofthe movable body on which grating RG is provided can be measured indirections of six degrees of freedom. Further, the configuration ofencoder system 73 is not limited to the embodiment described above, andis arbitrary.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while the grating was placed onthe upper surface of the fine movement stage, that is, a surface thatfaces the wafer, as well as this, the grating can be formed on a waferholder holding the wafer. In this case, even when a wafer holder expandsor an installing position to the fine movement stage shifts duringexposure, this can be followed up when measuring the position of thewafer holder (wafer). Further, the grating can be placed on the lowersurface of the fine movement stage, and in this case, the fine movementstage does not have to be a solid member through which light can passbecause the measurement beam irradiated from the encoder head does notproceed inside the fine movement stage, and fine movement stage can havea hollow structure with the piping, wiring and like placed inside, whichallows the weight of the fine movement stage to be reduced.

Incidentally, in each of the embodiments above, while an encoder systemwas used in which measurement beams proceeded inside of measurement arms71A and 71B and were irradiated on grating RG of the fine movement stagefrom below, as well as this, an encoder system can be used which has anoptical system (such as a beam splitter) of an encoder head provided inthe measurement arm, and the optical system and a light source can beconnected by an optical fiber, which allows a laser beam to betransmitted from the light source to the optical system via the opticalfiber, and/or the optical system and a photodetection section can beconnected by an optical fiber, and the optical fiber allows a returnlight from grating RG to be transmitted from the optical system to thephotodetection system.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while the example was given wherethe wafer stage was a coarse/fine movement stage which is a combinationof a coarse movement stage and a fine movement stage, the presentinvention is not limited to this.

Further, the drive mechanism of driving the fine movement stage withrespect to the coarse movement stage is not limited to the mechanismdescribed in the embodiment above. For example, in the embodiment, whilethe coil which drives the fine movement stage in the Y-axis directionalso functioned as a coil which drives fine movement stage in the Z-axisdirection, besides this, an actuator (linear motor) which drives thefine movement stage in the Y-axis direction and an actuator which drivesthe fine movement stage in the Z-axis direction, or more specifically,levitates the fine movement stage, can each be provided independently.In this case, because it is possible to make a constant levitation forceact on the fine movement stage, the position of the fine movement stagein the Z-axis direction becomes stable. Incidentally, in each of theembodiments above, while the case has been described where moversections 82 a and 82 b equipped in the fine movement stage have a Ushape in a side view, as a matter of course, the mover section, as wellas the stator section, equipped in the linear motor that drives the finemovement stage do not have to be U shaped.

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, while fine movement stages WFS1and WFS2 are supported in a noncontact manner by coarse movement stageWCS1 or WCS2 by the action of the Lorentz force (electromagnetic force),besides this, for example, a vacuum preload type hydrostatic airbearings and the like can be arranged on fine movement stages WFS1 andWFS2 so that the stages are supported by levitation with respect tocoarse movement stage WCS1 or WCS2. Further, in the embodiment above,while fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 could be driven in directionsof all 6 degrees of freedom, the present invention is not limited tothis, and fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 only needs to be able tomove within a two-dimensional plane which is parallel to the XY plane.Further, fine movement stage drive systems 52A and 52B are not limitedto the magnet moving type described above, and can also be a moving coiltype as well. Furthermore, fine movement stages WFS1 and WFS2 can alsobe supported in contact with coarse movement stage WCS1 or WCS2.Accordingly, as the fine movement stage drive system which drives finemovement stages WFS1 and WFS2 with respect to coarse movement stage WCS1or WCS2, for example, a rotary motor and a ball screw (or a feed screw)can also be combined for use.

Incidentally, the fine movement stage position measurement system can beconfigured so that position measurement is possible within the totalmovement range of a wafer stage. In this case, a wafer stage positionmeasurement system will not be required. Further, in the embodimentabove, base board 12 can be a counter mass which can move by anoperation of a reaction force of the drive force of the wafer stage. Inthis case, coarse movement stage does not have to be used as a countermass, or when the coarse movement stage is used as a counter mass as inthe embodiment described above, the weight of the coarse movement stagecan be reduced.

Incidentally, the wafer used in the exposure apparatus of the embodimentabove is not limited to the 450 mm wafer, and can be a wafer of asmaller size (such as a 300 mm wafer).

Incidentally, in the embodiment above, the case has been described wherethe present invention is applied to a scanning stepper; however, thepresent invention is not limited to this, and can also be applied to astatic exposure apparatus such as a stepper. Even in the case of astepper, by measuring the position of a stage on which the objectsubject to exposure is mounted using an encoder, position measurementerror caused by air fluctuation can substantially be nulled, which isdifferent from when measuring the position of this stage using aninterferometer, and it becomes possible to position the stage with highprecision based on the measurement values of the encoder, which in turnmakes it possible to transfer a reticle pattern on the object with highprecision. Further, the present invention can also be applied to areduction projection exposure apparatus by a step-and-stitch method thatsynthesizes a shot area and a shot area.

Further, the magnification of the projection optical system in theexposure apparatus of the embodiment above is not only a reductionsystem, but also may be either an equal magnifying system or amagnifying system, and projection optical system PL is not only adioptric system, but also may be either a catoptric system or acatadioptric system, and in addition, the projected image may be eitheran inverted image or an upright image.

In addition, the illumination light IL is not limited to ArF excimerlaser light (with a wavelength of 193 nm), but may be ultraviolet light,such as KrF excimer laser light (with a wavelength of 248 nm), or vacuumultraviolet light, such as F₂ laser light (with a wavelength of 157 nm).As disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,023,610, a harmonic wave,which is obtained by amplifying a single-wavelength laser beam in theinfrared or visible range emitted by a DFB semiconductor laser or fiberlaser, with a fiber amplifier doped with, for example, erbium (or botherbium and ytteribium), and by converting the wavelength intoultraviolet light using a nonlinear optical crystal, can also be used asvacuum ultraviolet light.

In addition, the illumination light IL of the exposure apparatus 10 inthe abovementioned embodiment is not limited to light with a wavelengthof 100 nm or greater, and, of course, light with a wavelength of lessthan 100 nm may be used. For example, the present invention can beapplied to an EUV exposure apparatus that uses an EUV (ExtremeUltraviolet) light in a soft X-ray range (e.g., a wavelength range from5 to 15 nm). In addition, the present invention can also be applied toan exposure apparatus that uses charged particle beams such as anelectron beam or an ion beam.

Further, in the embodiment above, a transmissive type mask (reticle) isused, which is a transmissive substrate on which a predetermined lightshielding pattern (or a phase pattern or a light attenuation pattern) isformed. Instead of this reticle, however, as is disclosed in, forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 6,778,257, an electron mask (which is also calleda variable shaped mask, an active mask or an image generator, andincludes, for example, a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) that is a typeof a non-emission type image display device (spatial light modulator) orthe like) on which a light-transmitting pattern, a reflection pattern,or an emission pattern is formed according to electronic data of thepattern that is to be exposed can also be used. In the case of usingsuch a variable shaped mask, because the stage where a wafer, a glassplate or the like is mounted is scanned with respect to the variableshaped mask, an equivalent effect as the embodiment above can beobtained by measuring the position of this stage using an encoder systemand a laser interferometer system.

Further, as is disclosed in, for example, PCT International PublicationNo. 2001/035168, the present invention can also be applied to anexposure apparatus (lithography system) that forms line-and-spacepatterns on a wafer W by forming interference fringes on wafer W.

Moreover, as disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,611,316, thepresent invention can also be applied to an exposure apparatus thatsynthesizes two reticle patterns via a projection optical system andalmost simultaneously performs double exposure of one shot area by onescanning exposure.

Incidentally, an object on which a pattern is to be formed (an objectsubject to exposure to which an energy beam is irradiated) in theembodiment above is not limited to a wafer, but may be other objectssuch as a glass plate, a ceramic substrate, a film member, or a maskblank.

The application of the exposure apparatus is not limited to an exposureapparatus for fabricating semiconductor devices, but can be widelyadapted to, for example, an exposure apparatus for fabricating liquidcrystal devices, wherein a liquid crystal display device pattern istransferred to a rectangular glass plate, as well as to exposureapparatuses for fabricating organic electroluminescent displays, thinfilm magnetic heads, image capturing devices (e.g., CCDs),micromachines, and DNA chips. In addition to fabricating microdeviceslike semiconductor devices, the present invention can also be adapted toan exposure apparatus that transfers a circuit pattern to a glasssubstrate, a silicon wafer, or the like in order to fabricate a reticleor a mask used by a visible light exposure apparatus, an EUV exposureapparatus, an X-ray exposure apparatus, an electron beam exposureapparatus, and the like.

Incidentally, the disclosures of all publications, the PCT InternationalPublications, the U.S. patent applications and the U.S. patents that arecited in the description so far related to exposure apparatuses and thelike are each incorporated herein by reference.

Electronic devices such as semiconductor devices are manufacturedthrough the steps of; a step where the function/performance design ofthe device is performed, a step where a reticle based on the design stepis manufactured, a step where a wafer is manufactured from siliconmaterials, a lithography step where the pattern of a mask (the reticle)is transferred onto the wafer by the exposure apparatus (patternformation apparatus) and the exposure method in the embodimentpreviously described, a development step where the wafer that has beenexposed is developed, an etching step where an exposed member of an areaother than the area where the resist remains is removed by etching, aresist removing step where the resist that is no longer necessary whenetching has been completed is removed, a device assembly step (includinga dicing process, a bonding process, the package process), inspectionsteps and the like. In this case, in the lithography step, because thedevice pattern is formed on the wafer by executing the exposure methodpreviously described using the exposure apparatus of the embodiment, ahighly integrated device can be produced with good productivity.

While the above-described embodiments of the present invention are thepresently preferred embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art oflithography systems will readily recognize that numerous additions,modifications, and substitutions may be made to the above-describedembodiments without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. It isintended that all such modifications, additions, and substitutions fallwithin the scope of the present invention, which is best defined by theclaims appended below.

What is claimed is:
 1. A detection device that detects a mark of anobject, the device comprising: a detection system that has a barrelprovided with an optical member inside, a detection light beingirradiated on the object via the optical member and the detection lightreflected off the object being detected via the optical member; a basemember disposed below the detection system and supported so that asurface of the base member is substantially parallel to a predeterminedplane; a holding member disposed on the base member, the holding memberbeing provided with a holder to hold the object on an upper surface sideof the holding member and provided with a measurement surface on a lowersurface side of the holding member in a direction orthogonal to thepredetermined plane, and the measurement surface having areflection-type two-dimensional grating; a drive system that has a motorto drive the holding member and moves the holding member at least in adirection parallel to the predetermined plane; a measurement system thathas a head section installed via a vibration isolation member so thatthe head section is disposed lower than the measurement surface belowthe detection system, and measures positional information of the holdingmember, the measurement system irradiating the measurement surface frombelow with a measurement beam via the head section and detecting themeasurement beam reflected off the measurement surface via the headsection; and a controller that controls the drive system based onmeasurement information of the measurement system so that the detectionlight is irradiated on the mark.
 2. The detection device according toclaim 1, wherein the measurement system irradiates the measurementsurface with a plurality of measurement beams including the measurementbeam, and the plurality of measurement beams are respectively irradiatedon measurement points whose positions are different from each other inat least one of a first direction and a second direction orthogonal toeach other within the predetermined plane.
 3. The detection deviceaccording to claim 2, wherein the measurement system measures positionalinformation of the holding member in directions of six degrees offreedom that include the first and the second directions and a thirddirection orthogonal to the predetermined plane.
 4. The detection deviceaccording to claim 3, wherein the mark is formed on the object with anexposure apparatus that exposes the object with an exposure light via aprojection optical system, and detection information of the mark is usedin alignment of the object in exposure processing, in which a devicepattern is formed on the object, by the exposure apparatus.
 5. Thedetection device according to claim 3, wherein a size of a formationarea of the two-dimensional grating is larger than a size of an objectheld by the holding member.
 6. The detection device according to claim3, wherein the holding member has a protective member that covers themeasurement surface, and the measurement system irradiates themeasurement surface with the measurement beam via the protective member.7. The detection device according to claim 1, further comprising: aframe structure that supports the detection system and is installed viathe vibration isolation member, wherein the head section is provided atthe frame structure.
 8. The detection device according to claim 7,further comprising: a measurement member coupled to the frame structureand provided with the head section, wherein the head section is disposedlower than the measurement surface, by the measurement member.
 9. Thedetection device according to claim 8, wherein the measurement memberhas a first part and a second part, the first part being provided withthe head section and being disposed below the detection system, and thesecond part being coupled to the frame structure and supporting thefirst part.
 10. The detection device according to claim 9, wherein thebase member is installed via another vibration isolation memberdifferent from the vibration isolation member.
 11. The detection deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a frame structure thatsupports the detection system and is installed via another vibrationisolation member different from the vibration isolation member; and ameasurement member provided with the head section, that is installed viathe vibration isolation member so that the measurement member isdisposed separately from the frame structure.
 12. The detection deviceaccording to claim 11, further comprising: a measurement device thatmeasures a relative positional relationship between the frame structureand the measurement member.
 13. The detection device according to claim3, wherein the detection system has a plurality of detection areas whosepositions are different from each other in at least one of the first andthe second directions, the plurality of detection areas being severallycapable of detecting the marks of the object.
 14. The detection deviceaccording to claim 13, wherein the detection system is capable ofchanging a relative positional relationship between the plurality ofdetection areas based on a placement of the marks of the object.
 15. Thedetection device according to claim 3, further comprising: anotherdetection system different from the detection system, that detectspositional information of the object in the third direction.
 16. Anexposure method of exposing an object with an exposure light via aprojection optical system, the method comprising: detecting a mark ofthe object with the detection device according to claim 1; and exposingthe object using detection information of the mark.
 17. A devicemanufacturing method, including: exposing an object with the exposuremethod according to claim 16; and developing the object that has beenexposed.
 18. A detection method of detecting a mark of an object, themethod comprising: holding the object with a holding member disposed ona base member that is supported so that a surface of the base member issubstantially parallel to a predetermined plane, below a detectionsystem that has a barrel provided with an optical member inside, theholding member being provided with a holder to hold the object on anupper surface side of the holding member and provided with a measurementsurface on a lower surface side of the holding member in a directionorthogonal to the predetermined plane, and the measurement surfacehaving a reflection-type two-dimensional grating; measuring positionalinformation of the holding member, with a measurement system that has ahead section installed via a vibration isolation member so that the headsection is disposed lower than the measurement surface below thedetection system, a measurement beam being irradiated on the measurementsurface from below via the head section and the measurement beamreflected off the measurement surface being detected via the headsection; and moving the holding member based on measurement informationof the measurement system so that the mark is detected with thedetection system, a detection light being irradiated on the object viathe optical member and the detection light reflected off the objectbeing detected via the optical member.
 19. The detection methodaccording to claim 18, wherein a plurality of measurement beamsincluding the measurement beam are irradiated on the measurement surfaceso that positional information of the holding member in directions ofsix degrees of freedom that include a first direction, a seconddirection and a third direction is measured, the first and the seconddirections being orthogonal to each other within the predeterminedplane, and the third direction being orthogonal to the predeterminedplane, and positions of measurement points on which the plurality ofmeasurement beams are irradiated, respectively, are different from eachother in at least one of the first and the second directions.
 20. Thedetection method according to claim 19, wherein the mark is formed onthe object with an exposure apparatus that exposes the object with anexposure light via a projection optical system, and detectioninformation of the mark is used in alignment of the object in exposureprocessing, in which a device pattern is formed on the object, by theexposure apparatus.
 21. The detection method according to claim 19,wherein the head section is provided at a frame structure that supportsthe detection system and is installed via the vibration isolationmember.
 22. The detection method according to claim 21, wherein the headsection is disposed lower than the measurement surface, by a measurementmember coupled to the frame structure.
 23. The detection methodaccording to claim 19, wherein the head section is provided at ameasurement member that is installed via the vibration isolation member,so that the measurement member is disposed separately from a framestructure that supports the detection system and is installed viaanother vibration isolation member different from the vibrationisolation member.
 24. The detection method according to claim 23,wherein a relative positional relationship between the frame structureand the measurement member is measured.
 25. The detection methodaccording to claim 19, wherein positional information of the object inthe third direction is detected with another detection system differentfrom the detection system.
 26. An exposure method of exposing an objectwith an exposure light via a projection optical system, the methodcomprising: detecting a mark of the object with the detection methodaccording to claim 18; and exposing the object using detectioninformation of the mark.
 27. A device manufacturing method, including:exposing an object with the exposure method according to claim 26; anddeveloping the object that has been exposed.